On the Linux kernel mailing list, Willy Tarreau has announced that there will be no more releases for version 2.4 of the Linux kernel. Tarreau, who is responsible for maintaining the Linux 2.4 kernel, said that "few people" still use this version. According to him, these users are better served by a central Git repository that collects bug fixes and that he has now created such a repository for them.

Linux 2.4.0 was released over eleven years ago and was superseded by the next stable version (2.6.0) more than eight years ago. With Tarreau's announcement, maintenance of Linux 2.4.0 has effectively stopped, which makes version 2.4.37.11 from December the latest release of the 2.4 series. Linux 2.4 is mainly used in embedded systems – desktop and server use should be minimal these days.

Tarreau will now maintain the long-term support kernel versions 2.6.27 and 2.6.32 while Greg Kroah-Hartman is maintaining the 3.0 long-term kernel while simultaneously working on fixes for the Linux mainline.

(fab)