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I have a question regarding the interpretation of kernel FAQ charts found here, namely this one.

  1. First of all, what does the .x tell us? What is the difference between 14.04.0 and 14.04.1 or 14.04.2 and is there a way of switching between them in both directions?
  2. What does the text below the bars tell us, e.g. v3.19 == Vivid 15.04 HWE Kernel? In that case what is the difference between 14.04.3 and 15.04?
  3. If one has Ubuntu 14.04.3 installed, what happens when one does not use kernel v3.19 but instead kernel v3.13 or v4.2?
tepsijash
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2 Answers2

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First of all, what does the .x tell us?

That the kernel version for 16.04 was not finalized at the time the chart was made.

What is the difference between 14.04.0 and 14.04.1 or 14.04.2 and is there a way of switching between them in both directions?

What are point releases in LTS versions?

What does the text below the bars tell us, e.g. v3.19 == Vivid 15.04 HWE Kernel?

What is hardware enablement (HWE)? So, the HWE update released after 15.04 will use the 15.04 kernel, 3.19.

In that case what is the difference between 14.04.3 and 15.04?

15.04 will include updates to a number of userland packages which will never hit 14.04. For example, many software from the GNOME project are on 3.10 or older in 14.04, and usually 3.14 in 15.04.

If one has Ubuntu 14.04.3 installed, what happens when one does not use kernel v3.19 but instead kernel v3.13 or v4.2?

Other than that you miss new features (and bugs, accordingly) from 3.19 in 3.13 or gain features in 4.2, nothing special.

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muru
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  • So we can say that 15.04.x has newer userland packages compared to 14.04.x, 14.04.3 has better hardware support and bug fixes compared to 14.04.1? What is then the difference between 14.04.3 and 14.04.1 both with the same kernel, say v3.19? What does the point release introduce that the kernel update does not and vice versa? – tepsijash Jan 04 '16 at 22:59
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    If you have 14.04.1 with 3.19, then you have selectively upgraded packages. The point release introduces the kernel update to the repositories - that's the whole point of it. The actual name change is brought about by the base-files package, which you may or may not choose to upgrade, maybe independently of the kernel or not - you can be on 14.04.3 without using any newer kernel. But if you did install 3.19, then you have reached 14.04.3, irrespective of whether you chose to upgrade ... – muru Jan 05 '16 at 04:12
  • ... base-files and get the name changed as well. "14.04.3" is just a general indicator that this system is generally up-to-date (except for nuts who chose to upgrade only base-files). – muru Jan 05 '16 at 04:15
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I have not tried it, but I would assume they may have a 50/50 but those are the builds of the os based of those kernels which is the OS. The kernel is almost like the beginning

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