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doc(reference): add kernel flavours section to ubuntu-kernels#110

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doc(reference): add kernel flavours section to ubuntu-kernels#110
tswhison wants to merge 1 commit into
canonical:mainfrom
tswhison:tswhison/migrate_kernel_flavour_differences

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@tswhison

@tswhison tswhison commented Jun 25, 2026

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Add a 'Kernel flavours' section to the Ubuntu kernel variants and branches reference page, migrating the design principle from the deprecated Ubuntu wiki page at:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/FAQ/KernelFlavourDifferences

The wiki established that Ubuntu kernels are all built from the same source code and patches, with config options as the only differentiator between flavours. That foundational principle was missing from the existing reference page.

The new section:

  • Defines what a kernel flavour is (same source, config-only differences)
  • Distinguishes flavours from optimized/derivative kernels (separate source packages that may also carry additional patches)
  • Provides a reference table of current Ubuntu flavours, their supported architectures, and target workloads

The historical per-release config comparison tables from the wiki (Lucid 10.04, Natty 11.04) are not included: those releases are end-of-life and the flavour names they document (-server, -virtual, -generic-pae) no longer exist in current Ubuntu.

  • Added or updated meta description (if this PR includes documentation changes)
  • Reviewed all GitHub Actions / CI results; any unresolved failures are explained in a comment

@tswhison tswhison requested a review from AnneCYH as a code owner June 25, 2026 21:31
@tswhison tswhison force-pushed the tswhison/migrate_kernel_flavour_differences branch 2 times, most recently from bab7b63 to 623beb9 Compare June 25, 2026 21:55
@AnneCYH AnneCYH closed this Jul 15, 2026
@AnneCYH AnneCYH reopened this Jul 15, 2026

@AnneCYH AnneCYH left a comment

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Hi @tswhison , thanks for this!
some minor suggestions.
Is there anything else you think needs to be imported from the original Wiki or can we 'deprecate' that once this is merged?

Comment thread docs/reference/ubuntu-kernels.md Outdated
- Deterministic latency via the PREEMPT_RT patchset
```

(optimized-kernels)=

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Suggested change
(optimized-kernels)=
(ref-ubuntu-kernels-optimized)=

To avoid duplicates.

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fixed

Comment thread docs/reference/ubuntu-kernels.md Outdated
Kernels with separate source packages (such as `linux-aws` or `linux-raspi`) are [optimized kernels](#optimized-kernels) and may carry additional patches beyond config changes.
```

The current Ubuntu flavours and their target workloads are:

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Hi @tswhison ,

This is for the "linux" source package; because within linux-raspi itself there are also "flavours" within that optimized kernel.
https://git.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-raspi/tree/debian.raspi/config/annotations?h=ubuntu/resolute-updates&id=c9063c52ef7687a4014680cea36fa08afda56fc0

Could we be more specific about that here?

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I think I understood what you meant. Please double check me.

@tswhison tswhison force-pushed the tswhison/migrate_kernel_flavour_differences branch from 623beb9 to 81a240d Compare July 15, 2026 22:46
@tswhison

tswhison commented Jul 15, 2026

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Thanks, @AnneCYH. I think that the original wiki content can be deprecated.

Add a 'Kernel flavours' section to the Ubuntu kernel variants and
branches reference page, migrating the design principle from the
deprecated Ubuntu wiki page at:
  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/FAQ/KernelFlavourDifferences

The wiki established that Ubuntu kernels are all built from the same
source code and patches, with config options as the only differentiator
between flavours. That foundational principle was missing from the
existing reference page.

The new section:
- Defines what a kernel flavour is (same source, config-only differences)
- Distinguishes flavours from optimized/derivative kernels (separate
  source packages that may also carry additional patches)
- Provides a reference table of current Ubuntu flavours, their supported
  architectures, and target workloads

The historical per-release config comparison tables from the wiki
(Lucid 10.04, Natty 11.04) are not included: those releases are
end-of-life and the flavour names they document (-server, -virtual,
-generic-pae) no longer exist in current Ubuntu.

Signed-off-by: Tim Whisonant <tim.whisonant@canonical.com>
@tswhison tswhison force-pushed the tswhison/migrate_kernel_flavour_differences branch from 81a240d to 6c54892 Compare July 15, 2026 22:50
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2 participants