# Racket v8.6 Released **URL:** \ **Category:** Announcements\ **Tags:** release\ **Created:** [August 11, 2022, 11:03am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/racket-v8-6-released/1222 "2022-08-11T11:03:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![spdegabrielle](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/spdegabrielle/32/95_2.png) [@spdegabrielle](https://racket.discourse.group/u/spdegabrielle)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 11:03am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/racket-v8-6-released/1222/1 "2022-08-11T11:03:02Z")
![catsay racket v8.6](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/racket/original/1X/ac766442aa251d7015865c1d836359be2c9c9805.png) Racket version 8.6 is now available from [https://download.racket-lang.org/](https://download.racket-lang.org/) As of this release: - Racket has an “equal-always?” primitive that equates values that will stay the same even if mutated. See [`equal-always?`](https://docs.racket-lang.org/reference/Equality.html#%28def._%28%28quote._~23~25kernel%29._equal-always~3f%29%29) in the Racket Reference. - This release uses a new build system, Zuo, which is implemented as a little language, in accordance with the ideas of Language Oriented Programming (LOP). The implementation has a single C file (plus libraries implemented in Zuo), so it compiles easily. The `zuo/build` library is modeled on `make` and Shake for tracking dependencies and build steps. See [Zuo: A Tiny Racket for Scripting](https://docs.racket-lang.org/zuo/index.html) and [New build system pushed to Git repo](https://racket.discourse.group/t/new-build-system-pushed-to-git-repo/873) - Racket supports stencil vectors, which associate a virtual bitmask with a vector, enabling certain mask-equipped update operations. See [4.13 Stencil Vectors](https://docs.racket-lang.org/reference/stencil_vectors.html) - Racket supports Arm64 machines running Windows. - Redex has support for simultaneous substitutions. See [4 The Redex Reference](https://docs.racket-lang.org/redex/reference.html#%28form._%28%28lib._redex%2Freduction-semantics..rkt%29._substitute%29%29) - The Web Server provides control over the maximum number of concurrent connections via its “safety limits” construct. See [1 Dispatching Server](https://docs.racket-lang.org/web-server-internal/dispatch-server-unit.html#%28part._safety-limits%29) - The Web Server has improved logging performance and improved request parsing performance, reducing tail latencies. - The Web Server supports logging response status code via `web-server/dispatchers/dispatch-logresp`. See [2.9 Logging](https://docs.racket-lang.org/web-server-internal/dispatch-logresp.html) - The `db` library supports custom types for PostgreSQL connections; see `pg-custom-type` for details. See [5 Utilities](https://docs.racket-lang.org/db/util.html#%28def._%28%28lib._db%2Futil%2Fpostgresql..rkt%29._pg-custom-type%29%29) - The release includes many other repairs and changes! The following people contributed to this release: Alex Knauth, Alexander Shopov, Alexis King, Amirouche Amazigh BOUBEKKI, Andy Keep, Ashish SHUKLA, Bob Burger, Bogdan Popa, Cameron Moy, Chung-chieh Shan, David K. Storrs, FrankHB, Fred Fu, Gustavo Massaccesi, helado de brownie, J. Ryan Stinnett, Jack Firth, Jamie Taylor, Jason Hemann, Jens Axel Søgaard, Jimmy McNutt, Joel Dueck, John Clements, José Manuel Calderón Trilla, Kevin Tew, Laurent Orseau, Matt Audesse, Matthew Flatt, Matthias Felleisen, Mike Sperber, naveen srinivasan, Niklas Larsson, Noah Ma, Oscar Waddell, Pavel Panchekha, Phil Nguyen, Philip McGrath, Philippe Meunier, rgkirch, Robby Findler, Robert Postill, Ryan Culpepper, Sam Tobin-Hochstadt, Sergiu Ivanov, Sorawee Porncharoenwase, Stephen De Gabrielle, Vincent Lee, wackbyte, and Zibing Zhang Link to package regressions issue for the 8.6 release: [Release Regressions for 8.6 · Issue #4366 · racket/racket · GitHub](https://github.com/racket/racket/issues/4366) Official installers for Racket on many platforms are available from [https://download.racket-lang.org/](https://download.racket-lang.org/). If you are new to Racket try our [Getting started guide](https://docs.racket-lang.org/getting-started/index.html). Questions and feedback about the release are welcome on [Discourse](https://racket.discourse.group/). ## Upgrading Racket 1. download from [https://download.racket-lang.org](https://download.racket-lang.org/) 2. run the installer _Note: multiple racket installations can coexist on a single machine as long as they are in different locations so you may keep or discard your old one._ 1. update $PATH. (See: [Configure Command Line for Racket](https://github.com/racket/racket/wiki/Configure-Command-Line-for-Racket)) 2. open terminal and run `raco pkg migrate` to update any locally installed packages If you want all the latest changes [Snapshot Builds](https://snapshot.racket-lang.org/) for nightly updates. If you have questions [Racket Discourse](https://racket.discourse.group/) (forum/mailing list) and [Racket Discord](https://discord.gg/6Zq8sH5) are the most active places. [(_Thank you to Dr Dionna Amalie Glaze for the `standard-cat`._)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/deeglaze) ---
**Author:** ![spdegabrielle](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/spdegabrielle/32/95_2.png) [@spdegabrielle](https://racket.discourse.group/u/spdegabrielle)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/racket-v8-6-released/1222/2 "2022-08-11T11:23:14Z")
I'd also like to thank the following people for working at the last moment to help ensure racket was available in other package managers @leahneukirchen for updating Racket 8.6 for Void Linux @zyga for publishing a Racket 8.6 Snap to the `beta` channel. @LiberalArtist for sending the updates for Guix in: [[PATCH 0/6] gnu: Update Racket to 8.6](https://issues.guix.gnu.org/57050) @xgqt & @tgbugs for updating the [Racket Gentoo Package](https://packages.gentoo.org/packages/dev-scheme/racket) 🥰 PS If YOU use another package manager and have updated it to Racket v8.6 please let us know! ---
**Author:** ![capfredf](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/capfredf/32/935_2.png) [@capfredf](https://racket.discourse.group/u/capfredf)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 2:37am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/racket-v8-6-released/1222/3 "2022-08-13T02:37:22Z")
I have co-maintained the Racket package for OpenSUSE Tumbleweed since I started using it as my daily driver. [The builds of 8.6](https://build.opensuse.org/request/show/994835) are underway. It might take another day to get into the latest snapshot of Tumbleweed. ---
**Author:** ![spdegabrielle](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/spdegabrielle/32/95_2.png) [@spdegabrielle](https://racket.discourse.group/u/spdegabrielle)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 11:15am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/racket-v8-6-released/1222/4 "2022-08-13T11:15:23Z")
Thanks @capfredf :racket_heart: Please let us know how it progresses. Best regards Stephen ---
**Author:** ![capfredf](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/capfredf/32/935_2.png) [@capfredf](https://racket.discourse.group/u/capfredf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2022, 1:41am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/racket-v8-6-released/1222/5 "2022-08-14T01:41:48Z")
The package update has been [merged](https://build.opensuse.org/package/show/openSUSE:Factory/racket) into the Factory. End users should see the latest Racket in the next or the one after the next snapshot ---
**Author:** ![zyga](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/zyga/32/585_2.png) [@zyga](https://racket.discourse.group/u/zyga)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 7:17am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/racket-v8-6-released/1222/6 "2022-08-16T07:17:50Z")
I've released `racket` snap to the `stable` channel, where it can be found and installed more easily.