this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2026
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Linux security vulnerabilities fixed per kernel version (lemmy.ml)
submitted 23 hours ago by MarcellusDrum@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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Something good coming out of AI, it seems.

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[–] Link@rentadrunk.org 19 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

I thought Torvalds said major versions bumps were meaningless so 6.0 or 7.0 is the same as 6.12 to 6.13

[–] non_burglar@lemmy.world 11 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Minor versions go up according to a certain pattern based on how the change mgmt is handled for the kernel, but major releases are marked when the kernel team "feels it's the right time".

From lwn: https://lwn.net/Articles/871989/

To kernel developers, version numbers continued to have no meaning other than as a measure of where things were on the timeline, he said; users were encouraged to run the latest version. But if you tell customers they need to move from 3.20 to 4.0, they will consider it a multi-year effort that requires planning and paperwork; "so they will only do it when they have time, which is never". Going from 3.20 to 4.0 seems like a big jump, and 4.0 to 4.2 seems much smaller, even though the latter brings roughly double the number of changes.

[–] kieron115@startrek.website 6 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Maybe in the past, but that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment.

Torvalds pointed out that the numbers he applies to new kernel releases are essentially meaningless.

“We haven't done releases based on features (or on "stable vs unstable") for a long, long time now. So that new major number does not mean that we have some big new exciting feature, or that we're somehow leaving old interfaces behind. It's the usual "solid progress" marker, nothing more.”

[–] non_burglar@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago

Thanks for this, I think I now understand what others are sating about this.

[–] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 12 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (2 children)

The version numbers are not really meaningless, because anything higher than .20 is life-threatening to Torvalds. But technically and functionally, it doesn't matter.

[–] kieron115@startrek.website 8 points 18 hours ago

Lol he said he doesn't want any version number higher than what he can count on his fingers and toes.

[–] Edie@lemmy.ml 10 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

What does he do when he gets to 19.19?

[–] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 9 points 21 hours ago

I hope he is still around at that time.