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Linux 2.2.20 is Out
piranha(jpl) writes: "I went to download 2.2.x from kernel.org and noticed 2.2.20 is out. I believe this is supposed to fix the security vulnerability found in 2.2.19. Surprised I didn't see it on the main Slashdot page."
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Okay, I'm kind of a newbie to Linux. I've been using Linux a little over a month, and I just finished compiling the latest stable 2.4 kernel. Now, tell me again why I'd want to take a step backwards? 2.4 is greater than 2.2.20 according to my math, which means it's better and more recent. So why are they still releasing 2.2? Is there some infighting in the Linux development world or something? Is this type of confusion (releasing 2.2.20 when 2.4 is already out) just one of the costs of the Open Source development methodology? I mean, you never hear about Microsoft releasing Windows 3.12 after Windows 95 is out.
Knowing Slashdot moderators, your comment will probably get modded as troll, but I'll answer anyway. Regarding your Windows example, you are incorrect. This is like Microsoft releasing SP6 for NT 4 after Windows 2000 is released. I'm fairly sure SP6 was released afterwards, but if not, they have still released updates to NT 4 after the release of Windows 2000. Just because a product isn't the latest code base doesn't mean it isn't still being used. Many people are still running NT 4, and need updates, like security fixes. There will still be updates to Windows 2000, even though Windows XP is out.
Even though 2.4 is "stable", it isn't "super stable" yet, and might not be for some time. I would guess that most people running Linux on non SMP production servers are using a 2.2 kernel, simply because it has been tested longer, and known to be stable. Then again, that's why many of us use FreeBSD on our production servers :) At this point, I would use a 2.2 kernel on any product boxes that were going to be running Linux. I've personally had problems with 2.4 on the boxes I use as workstations. For example, 2.4.7 would swap for hours when it ran out of memory. While you'd hope that never happens on a production server, many people can't afford to take that risk.
The current even numbered kernel, in this case 2.4, is the "stable" kernel, and the one behind it, in this case 2.2, is the "super stable" kernel.
2.4 is greater than 2.2.20 according to my math, which means it's better and more recent
no, no, no...
Linux is a next-generation operating system. The whole thing was planned out by The Creator before even the first line of code was committed to disk. We are in fact on a count down to Linux version 1. That will be the perfect version that will signal the end times . You see, linux started with, IIRC version 5. Each time The Creator completes one stage of the plan, we decrement the version number by one. We are at 2.2 now so as you can see, it wont be long until the end times .
I'm kind of a newbie to Linux
Welcome aboard brother.
Why, I can remember my first experience with linux. I had a version 4.6.2 kernel running on a 386 with only 640K RAM. Ahh... those were the days!