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If you’re using a distribution such as Fedora, you might have noticed many numbers associated with the Linux kernel version. (Type uname -r to see what I’m talking about specifically.) The first kernel used with Fedora Core 5, for example, is 2.6.15-1.2054_FC5. Here’s how to translate this into something a little more useful:
Version 2
Patch level 6
Sublevel 15
Extra version -1.2054
Local version _FC5
So if someone asks the person with this system what version of Linux she’s using, she would say 2.6. The 2 is the major and the 6 is the minor version number. The version and patch level are the official names from the kernel’s Makefile. The sublevel 15 is the 15th official release of kernel 2.6. The extra and local version are used internally by the distribution, in this case Fedora. Fedora uses them to indicate that this is their official numbered release (1.2054). And for the distributions version number FC5, the underscore is just used as a separator. In this chapter, I refer to these numbers as V (Version), P (patchlevel), S (sublevel), E (extra version), and L (local version).
Further confusion can be avoided if you understand one more piece of information. When someone asks what version of Linux you’re running, don’t say Fedora FC5 or Debian Sarge. Fedora and Debian are distributions. The version of Linux is the information I explain here. To
add further fuel to the fire (of confusion), some distributions add special methods to compile the kernel. Hence, the sections explaining the steps for Fedora and Debian. The section on the vanilla kernel is for those who don’t need the special instructions (such as Fedora before FC4). These are generally distributions not derived from Fedora or Debian (two of the largest distributions). I can’t know all the methods for compiling the kernel for a distribution, but the ones I outline probably cover most users’ needs.
add further fuel to the fire (of confusion), some distributions add special methods to compile the kernel. Hence, the sections explaining the steps for Fedora and Debian. The section on the vanilla kernel is for those who don’t need the special instructions (such as Fedora before FC4). These are generally distributions not derived from Fedora or Debian (two of the largest distributions). I can’t know all the methods for compiling the kernel for a distribution, but the ones I outline probably cover most users’ needs.
