The Linux community now has a succession plan for when Linus Torvalds checks out, after an apparently uplifting discussion about 'our eventual march toward death'

The Linux Foundation now has a succession plan for the day when Linux creator and main man Linus Torvalds either retires, or is no longer with us. The initiative came out of the Maintainers Summit held in December 2025, which ended with a session on continuity planning.

One thing I'll say about Linux people: they know how to get things done. This session resulted in broad agreement among the group about what a succession plan should look like, and an explicit plan for what to do next (which has now started).