this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2025
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What do Linux kernel version numbers mean? (www.osnews.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by Rekall_Incorporated@piefed.social to c/linux@programming.dev
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OSnews blogpost links to Linux kernel version numbers by Greg K-H

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[โ€“] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

From the godfather Himself:

I'd like to point out (yet again) that we don't do feature-based releases, and that "5.0" doesn't mean anything more than that the 4.x numbers started getting big enough that I ran out of fingers and toes.

https://lwn.net/Articles/781206/

From kernel.org:

Does the major version number (4.x vs 5.x) mean anything?

No. The major version number is incremented when the number after the dot starts looking "too big." There is literally no other reason.

https://www.kernel.org/releases.html#does-the-major-version-number-4-x-vs-5-x-mean-anything

[โ€“] onlinepersona@programming.dev 1 points 2 weeks ago

"Kernel version numbers are easy"