Saturday, March 6, 2010
How Linux kernels are numbered.
Linux kernel version numbers are in my opinion a little weird and hard to keep up with, I would almost say they are changed as frequently as Windows has updates. When the first version came out it was version 0.01 and then ver 0.02 which made since but it changed often. Sometime in 1994 they changed the way it would be done. The first number would only change when there is a major design change in the concept, the second number changes when their is a major revision to the current concept, and the third number is when their are minor changes to the current concept and the fourth is for correction or patches. Simple right, well not really. Sometimes they add letters to the very end of the version, which indicate other information like the name of who wrote the revision. All in all I would say that their is a new version every month if not every week. A perfect example is that version 2.6.32.9 was release on 2-23-10 and version 2.6.33 was release on 2-24-10 only one day difference, why not just wait one day and release 2.6.33 and forget about the other release. (Info taken from http://www.kernel.org/)
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You are right - however, with these new kernels comes some good things, such as game support. One does not really chase a new kernel, in fact my server kernel is pretty old. However, I apply patches to it just like I would windows. Windows has service-pacs with major changes that one has to keep up with too. The thing about these kernels are that they are backwards compatible, unlike buying a new OS.
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