Linux Kernel 2.6 to Become 2.8, Next Big Release 3.0

The Linux kernel that has been stuck on version 2.6.x for a very long time will now become version 2.8, according to Linus Torvalds, chief architect of the Linux kernel. According to a message posted on the Linux Kernel Mailing List, he said that there was plenty of development done already on the 2.6 kernel and it could be tagged as version 2.8.There have been close to 40 releases so far on the 2.6 kernel.

There were also talks of tagging the next major kernel release as version 3.0. The latest kernel in development, 2.6.40 is said to include fixes for Intel’s new Sandy Bridge architecture. There will also be some work done to add support for the upcoming Ivy Bridge processor and also NVIDIA’s Optimus platform. He also mentioned that the upcoming version numbers would get rid of the last digit. Future releases would called 3.0, 3.1 and so on. The point releases would have the additional version number at the end though. The version 4.0 would be released roughly around the same time as 3.40. The version 3.0 isn’t only to indicate that the Linux kernel would be heading its third decade in development though.

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Source: Phoronix