Linux kernel version history

This article documents the version history of the Linux kernel, a free, open-source, and Unix-like kernel that is used in many computer systems worldwide.
Since the Linux kernel's creation by Linus Torvalds in 1991, it grew rapidly as many developers contributed to the project.
The kernel became self-hosting as of version 0.11 in December 1991.
Linux 1.0.0 was released in March 1994, consisting of over 170,000 lines of source code.
The most recent stable release of the Linux kernel is, released on.

Explanation

Each major version identified by the first two numbers of a release version is designated one of the following levels of support:

Supported until next stable version and 3 months after that
Long-term support ; maintained for a few years
Super-long-term support ; maintained for many more years by the Civil Infrastructure Platform

Overview

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Releases 6.x.y

Releases 5.x.y

Releases 4.x.y

Releases 3.x.y

The jump from 2.6.x to 3.x wasn't because of a breaking update, but rather the first release of a new versioning scheme introduced as a more convenient system.

Releases 2.6.x.y

Versions 2.6.16 and 2.6.27 of the Linux kernel were unofficially given long-term support, before a 2011 working group in the Linux Foundation started a formal long-term support initiative.