Kernel numbers

[James Wilkinson]

Jeff Stevens wrote:
> What does it mean to see an rpm with a kernel of 2.6.10-1.741_FC3, when 
> we go to a site like http://www.kernel.org and see the latest kernel is 
> at 2.6.10?

1.741_FC3 is the Fedora version of the kernel.

Linus Torvalds produces "base" kernels every few months. These days, he
doesn't automatically re-release to fix known bugs: he waits until the
new features he's been adding have settled down. (That, at least, is the
theory).

Alan Cox is currently taking the kernels that Linus Torvalds releases,
and providing "-ac" versions that do have the bug fixes and security
fixes. There will be a number of these for each release Linus makes:
currently, we're on 2.6.10-ac10.

Then Dave Jones adds in a few features that Red Hat wants to see in the
kernel, but for various reasons won't go into the Linus kernel (for
example, the Exec-Shield patch, and until recently, 4G/4G). That's the
Fedora version of the kernel, which gets its own numbering system based
on the Red Hat build system. That's the 1.741 bit.

> If one wanted to compile their own kernel from this site, 
> would they be losing fixes/etc. from the "-1.741_FC3" portion?

Yes. At the moment, you'd lose *security* fixes.

Use the latest -ac. I am.

James.

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