Kernel differences

[bwg]

I have been fooling around with linux since the mid-90's. I have turned many computers into bricks before the distros became more sophisticated and newbie-proof.
I have come to the conclusion that all linux's are the same, once you get past the DE and package manager, I figure that the main differences are which and how many gnu programs are present.
I am wondering if, however there are differences in what kernels are shipped with each distro. Mainly I am concerned with the differences among Debian, Ubuntu and Mint kernels. (I don't care much for the other distro flavors)
I certainly don't have enough knowledge to compare the kernels myself, so I must rely on someone who knows about these things.
Any ideas will be much appreciated.

[t42]

the differences among Debian, Ubuntu and Mint kernels

Linux Mint uses Ubuntu kernel and LMDE uses Debian kernel so you're down to compare two kernels.

Debian and Ubuntu always provide longterm maintenance to different original kernel versions so you can't compare easyly because they are based on different code. If you'll try to compile the kernel you will see dozens technical choices available for you - even based on the same source resulting binary from different teams will be drastically different.

[jjp2145-oldtimer]

Debian 10 uses 4.19. This is a long-term support kernel, its projected end of life is December 2024. Debian uses a stock kernel, not a distribution kernel. You will probably have to search for additional drivers manually and modprobe them into the kernel.

Mint 20 uses either kernel 5.4 or 5.8, with the recommendation that you only use 5.8 if you have trouble with using the 5.4 kernel. 5.4 is a long-term support kernel, its projected end of life is December 2025. Kernel 5.8 is not a long-term support kernel, it already reached end of life. Which is a nice segue into the next topic, Mint and Ubuntu use distribution kernels not stock kernels. They are maintained by Canonical, and they have the non-free blobs that most of use have come to rely on already installed by default. Please note that since the distribution kernels are maintained by a distribution, the statement above that 5.8 has already reached end of life is at least partially meaningless.

That is the extent of my knowledge about the kernel used by these distributions. Since this is a chat topic, everything I said does not come with a warranty and is not guaranteed to be true. At least with the kernel version numbers, you can look up information and what the one kernel can do, but another cannot.

[bwg]

If I might probe a little deeper...does that mean that Mint takes Debian's kernel and just drops it in? Or are there tweaks made?

[bwg]

Sorry I meant to ask if Mint uses Ubuntu's kernel and just drops it in?

[Pjotr]

Sorry I meant to ask if Mint uses Ubuntu's kernel and just drops it in?

Yes.

The Mint dev team is simply too small to busy itself with the kernels. No need to: the Ubuntu kernels are fine as they are (they're essentially Debian kernels to which the Ubuntu devs have added some drivers and some general user-friendliness).

You'll have a better understanding how Mint is built by looking at its software sources:

Code: Select all

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list

Note the many Ubuntu sources in it. Which means that some 90 - 95 percent of Mint is sheer Ubuntu. Mint-only are these packages:
http://packages.linuxmint.com/list.php?release=Ulyssa

[oldgranola]

Great informative response. Wonder where the most workload is? Cinnamon has certainly come a long way.