Re: Curiosity, why "vmlinuz" vs "bzImage"

Matt Pruett wrote:

> I have always been curious, many distros name the kernel file "vmlinuz",
> why is that? the kernel builds it into a file named bzImage. It always
> seemed to make sence to me to keep it named that, or something like
> bzImage-2.4.24 or whatever. Why the "vm"? why linuz instead of linux?
>
> lol always has bugged me maybe someone knows.
>

I've been reading "Linux Cookbook" (O'Reilly), a book I highly
recommend, and it actually has an answer:

"The name vmlinuz, according to lore, came about because the kernel on 
old Unix systems was vmunix. The vm stands for "virtual memory," to 
distinguish it from older kernels that did not have this feature. In 
your build tree, you'll see a vmlinux file. vmlinuz is the compressed 
version of this file. There's no need to be dull and stick with naming 
your kernels vmlinuz-$version. You can name them anything you like -- 
kernel-mustard, kernel-panic, kernel-of-truth, fred-and-ginger ... 
anything at all."
-- 
-Eric 'shubes'
"There is no such thing as the People;
  it is a collectivist myth.
  There are only individual citizens
  with individual wills
  and individual purposes."
-William E. Simon (1927-2000),
     Secretary of the Treasury (1974-1977)
  "A Time For Truth" (1978), pg. 237

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