Michael Scottaline wrote:
On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 17:56:58 -0500
Steven Pasternak <stevenp500@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> insightfully noted:
SP>How come the big popular kernels are even numbered minor releases?
SP>Kernel 2.0, 2.2, 2.4, and 2.6 are the only ones used. Why don't (or
SP>didn't) distros ship with 2.1, 2.3, and 2.5 kernels? I checked debian,
SP>redhat, suse, and mandrake (with distrowatch.com) and all previous
SP>versions had the even kernels only. Thanks!
SP>-Steven
SP>
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Odd numbers were (are) reserved for test, or development, releases.
Linus' decision, I believe.....
Mike
Yes, if I recall correctly, even numbers, though still improved, are
stable releases and may undergo minor testing of features, like the
current -rc# releases. I don't know at which point during 2.4 did Linux
moved into the 2.5 test branch, but I think he'll wait a little bit
longer with the current 2.6 releases before moving to 2.7 (I'm pretty
sure I read about this somewhere, but I can't remember if it was on LJ
or LM or on-line somewhere).
