Kernel Versions

[Dale Farnsworth]

> I recently hit the kernel.org website looking to see what the latest stable 
> kernel version number is, and I noticed they have listed 5 stable kernels
> 
> 1. 2.6.32.3
> 2. 2.6.31.11
> 3. 2.6.30.10
> 4. 2.6.27.43
> 5. 2.4.37.7

I won't comment on 2.4 because I don't do development there.  The current
2.6 "stable" releases are
  2.6.32.4
  2.6.31.12
  2.6.27.44

There is a stable team that does bugfix-only updates to recent 2.6.XX
releases. Currently, they are maintaining 2.6.32 and 2.6.31.  Someone
(I don't recall who) has said he will provide long-term updates "for at
least a few years" to 2.6.27.

Once 2.6.32.y is deemed "stable enough", the 2.6.31.y updates will be
abandoned.

Remember that these kernels don't contain any distro patches.  Linux *users*
are better off getting their updates from their distribution provider.

However, developers that are using/testing one of Linus' recent 2.6.XX
releases, will find the corresponding 2.6.XX.y release more "stable". :)

-Dale