this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2026
67 points (98.6% liked)
Linux
62353 readers
2497 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Uh, yes and no. If you're on Linux Mint 22.2+ you're on 6.14. If you're on Linux Mint 22.1 you're on 6.8.
If you're running Arch or equivalent, you're either on 6.17 or 6.18 at the moment.
Now that doesn't seem like a huge gap, but 6.8 came out March 2024. 6.14 is from March 2025. Debian 13.3 I think is on 6.12 which is November 2024.
These all seem recent, but Linux moves at such a fast pace that if you're gaming you really should be on the latest kernel for the best possible performance for gaming, especially if you have newer hardware.
Of course use whatever you like, but I would tell people to evaluate what would be the best option for their environment. For me I run my own websites and game servers. They're all on Debian containers.
If my mom came up to me and said she wanted to try "Linux" on her laptop, I'd just throw Ubuntu 24.04(or 26.04 for the next LTS) on it because I know she just needs something to surf the web.
And for me I recently went all in on CachyOS for my laptop and gaming desktop. I'm not running the latest and greatest hardware(Ryzen 3000 and 5000 series, Nvidia 3000 series), but this is my first attempt at a Arch based distro(well except my Steam Deck) and it's been pretty rock solid.