[$] The 6.12 merge window begins

As of this writing, 6,778 non-merge changesets have been pulled into the
mainline kernel for the 6.12 release — over half of the work that had been
staged in linux-next prior to the opening of the merge window. There has
been a lot of refactoring and cleanup work this time around, but also some
significant changes. Read on for a summary of the first half of the 6.12
merge window.