linux kernel version numbering. hyphenated kernel number means what exactly?

Question

for example uname -a on my system shows linux 2.6.35-22


i understand that 2.6.35 but what does 35-22 mean. when i was looking up on explanations on wikipedia and such it was only mentioning THREE version numbers in the kernel version not this 3-4 hyphenated business.

can anyone explain the third and fourth number in the kernel version to me and why they are hyphenated together

thanks

kevin

Answer 1

-22 is the local revision number. It's meaning changes from distro to distro.



Revisions and patches will periodically be applied to kernels to fix various bugs and such.The hyphen is just to provide more distinction. It means the 22nd local kernel version based on the 2.6.35 kernel release or something like that.

Answer 2

It means the version your distributor is using was customized for its OS. Most distributors customize their kernels, and many of us users compile our own kernels and will often customize them -- that is the point of compiling your own kernel. Generally there are switches which affect the names, and as well the name of the directory of the kernel affects the name assigned to the kernel. When you don't want to overwrite the modules which run your kernel one thing to do is change the name of your kernel directory. They would do this if they have to patch it for one problem or another.

Answer 3

There's no money in Linux. I've been an IT consultant for 20 years. I was pretty good with it 15 years ago, but you can't sell the skill anywhere. So there wasn't much point in staying current. VMWare and HyperV are the hot things right now.

Answer 4

What Does Kernel Version Mean