Kernel names

While researching this topic, I discovered the hilarious names of the kernel. In this particular case:

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 452913ce42c8b7..f975b639632809 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
 VERSION = 6
-PATCHLEVEL = 9
+PATCHLEVEL = 10
 SUBLEVEL = 0
-EXTRAVERSION =
-NAME = Hurr durr I'ma ninja sloth
+EXTRAVERSION = -rc1
+NAME = Baby Opossum Posse
 
 # *DOCUMENTATION*
 # To see a list of typical targets execute "make help"

I don’t know how I have spent all these years using Linux and never noticed these names.

It seems that last one is holding into 6.14 and Plucky’s on 6.12 right now, so that’s probably what it’s going to have. Someone has to create a wallpaper of a brave auk surrounded by a gaggle of wee didelphimorphs.

Interestingly, this is not the first time the kernel has been referred to some kind of opossum or another and there have been everything from quokkas to zombies, there has never before been a puffin.

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LOL sort of reminds one of the code used to send astronauts to the moon. Programmers getting bored and injecting humor into the code.

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With the upstream git source in hand, I wrote a script to list all the tags (which should correspond to all the versions) and iterate through them, grabbing the NAME value from the Makefile and adding them to a list. Some many names are used for multiple versions, so I removed duplicates. Here are all the unique versions:

Baby Opossum Posse
Woozy Numbat
Affluent Albatross
Sliding Snow Leopard
Crazed Snow-Weasel
Lordi Rules
Avast! A bilge rat!
Homicidal Dwarf Hamster
Nocturnal Monster Puppy
Holy Dancing Manatees, Batman!
Jeff Thinks I Should Change This, But To What?
Arr Matey! A Hairy Bilge Rat!
Pink Farting Weasel
Funky Weasel is Jiggy wit it
Rotary Wombat
Erotic Pickled Herring
Killer Bat of Doom
Temporary Tasmanian Devil
Man-Eating Seals of Antiquity
Vindictive Armadillo
Sheep on Meth
Flesh-Eating Bats with Fangs
Sneaky Weasel
“Divemaster Edition”
Wet Seal
Unicycling Gorilla
Linux for Workgroups
One Giant Leap for Frogkind
Shuffling Zombie Juror
Diseased Newt
Saber-toothed Squirrel
Terrified Chipmunk
Hurr durr I’ma sheep
Fearless Coyote
Roaring Lionus
Anniversary Edition
Merciless Moray
“People’s Front”
Shy Crocodile
Blurry Fish Butt
Charred Weasel
Psychotic Stoned Sheep
Kleptomaniac Octopus
:two_hearts: Valentine’s Day Edition :two_hearts:
Frozen Wasteland
Opossums on Parade
Trick or Treat
Gobble Gobble
Superb Owl
Bobtail Squid
Golden Lions
Nesting Opossum
Hurr durr I’ma ninja sloth

I guess there are also names that didn’t get into the Makefile like Linux for Workgroups. :rofl:

See also Wikipedia for an incomplete list of names. Again, I think especially with the early ones, they didn’t make it into the Makefile.

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talk about some great server names… haha

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put those two together would be a great server name surely to bring a smile to anyone’s face

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Yes, I can see it now:

wxl@jeff-thinks-i-should-change-this-but-to-what-pink-farting-weasel:~$
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I have thought maybe this would raise eyebrows as a server name…
mike@WOPR-Joshua-would-you-like-to-play-thermonucular-war

would be great for server OS testing LOL

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Nice find @wxl , I needed this today, nice mood lift.

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Why is this page in the Lounge category? I don’t see anything confidential.
Thank you.

The lounge is not for confidential subjects, but for off topic ones. I’d argue this one is. The kernel isn’t, but Linus’ silly sense of humor is.

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