The speaker, a kernel developer from Brazil working for an open source consultancy, discussed the improvements made to the Linux kernel to enhance gaming on Linux. The development of Proton by Valve has led to significant improvements, and features such as case-insensitive folders, Futex, user dispatch, and improvements to the GPU driver were added to enhance the Linux gaming experience. Smaller projects such as task schedulers, documentation, and unofficial kernel releases were also mentioned. The speaker also discussed the challenges of introducing new features into the Linux kernel.