[Tfug] Kernel Versions

[Tom Rini]

On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 09:23:08AM -0700, Nathan England wrote:
> 
> 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
> 
> While I realize the 2.4 series have long been seen as the stable "legacy" of 
> sorts, what is the deal with the other 4? I cannot find any reviews that 
> describe the differences. I use a lot of intel systems, so I am interested in 
> using the latest intel video drivers which they say requires the 2.6.32.2+ 
> kernel. I am currently running the 2.6.30.X, but it seems to me there are 
> multiple stable branches, how do I know which to use?
> 
> Does anyone know of a recent review on kernel versions?

The short answer is that there's folks out there maintaining more than
just the last release.  This is handy if for example you need to keep to
2.6.30 to use some proprietary stuff (as an example VMware or various
graphics drivers) but don't want to be in trouble if there's some
critical bug that's discovered / fixed for the most recent version.

As you said, you need 2.6.32.2 or newer for your graphics drivers, so
2.6.32.3 would be best for you.  For my work box I might be stuck to
2.6.27.x or whatever VMware officially supports.

-- 
Tom Rini