Linux kernel gets continuity plan for when Linus Torvalds retires or is gone

The Linux Foundation now has a succession plan for the day Linux creator Linus Torvalds either retires or is no longer with us, an initiative that emerged from the Maintainers Summit held in December 2025 and has begun to be implemented. The plan is documented in a new process called The Linux Kernel Continuity Document written by Williams.

Summit attendees broadly agreed on the shape of the plan: if the worst happens, invitees from the most recent Maintainers Summit and the Linux Technical Advisory Board (TAB) will convene to decide the next steps. That decision could, per LWN.net co-founder Jonathan Corbet, result in another single “benevolent dictator” in the Torvalds mode or a move to a group management model.

Kernel maintainer Dave Airlie suggested giving the decision process a papal flourish — lock the group in a room and send out a puff of white smoke — and the documentation is named Conclave.rst in reference to that idea.

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