Realtek rtl8723bs staging driver removed in Linux 7.4, merged into RTW88

The Realtek rtl8723bs driver has been removed from the Linux kernel's staging area in the upcoming Linux 7.4 release, concluding a nearly ten-year tenure that began with Linux 4.12 in 2017. The driver, which supported 802.11 b/g/n SDIO WiFi/WLAN and Bluetooth chipsets, has been superseded by integration into the more mature RTW88 driver already maintained in the kernel's proper networking subsystem.

The rtl8723bs staging driver was historically significant as an entry point for new kernel developers, with Greg Kroah-Hartman noting it was for many cycles the most active staging driver due to its abundance of cleanup opportunities. The original code was described as exceptionally messy, requiring extensive work to meet upstream standards and address security concerns including malicious WiFi access point handling. Its removal represents successful completion of the staging process rather than abandonment.

Staging consolidation and driver migration

• Staging deletion: The rtl8723bs driver has been entirely removed from the kernel staging tree via the WiFi driver tree, with all changes in the staging pull request rendered moot by the driver's deletion.
• RTW88 integration: Hardware support for the rtl8723bs 802.11 b/g/n SDIO WiFi/WLAN and Bluetooth chipset has been added to the existing RTW88 driver, which resides in the proper networking subsystem rather than staging.
• Historical timeline: The driver entered staging in Linux 4.12 (2017) and remained there for approximately nine years across many kernel release cycles.
• Developer onboarding role: The driver served as a consistent entry point for new kernel contributors, with extensive cleanup work needed to address code quality, upstream kernel standards compliance, and security hardening against malicious WiFi APs.
• Maintainer assessment: Greg Kroah-Hartman confirmed the staging work achieved its ultimate purpose of producing a functional, maintainable driver in the main kernel tree, even though the staging driver itself was discarded.

Why it matters

For Linux distribution maintainers and users of devices with rtl8723bs hardware, this consolidation eliminates a long-standing staging dependency and moves support to a driver with better maintenance guarantees and code quality standards. The transition also illustrates the staging lifecycle working as designed: messy vendor code incubated with community cleanup eventually yielding production-ready drivers, though the decade-long timeline highlights the persistence of hardware support gaps in the kernel ecosystem.