Work/life balance is important. But important enough to slow development of a tool on which a fair slab of the world relies every day?

The tool we're talking about is the Linux kernel and we mention it because its benevolent overlord Linus Torvalds posted over the weekend that version 4.1-rc5 looks like it's well and truly on track.

“So we're on schedule for a normal 4.1 release,” he wrote. Or the release would be, “if it wasn't for the fact that the timing looks like the next merge window would hit our yearly family vacation.”

“So we'll see how that turns out,” he adds. “I might end up delaying the release just to avoid that (or just delay opening the merge window). I haven't decided yet.”

While Torvalds decides, he suggests Linux kernel devs “please keep testing.”

Few would begrudge Torvalds and his family a break. The Linux lord spends plenty of Sundays working and posting to the kernel mailing list, and while his role as benevolent dictator attracts some ire it's also cited as making Linux more predictable than other open source projects.

From all of us here at The Reg, have a nice break, Linus. ®