[linux-help] Which kernel?

[Carl D Cravens <raven@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Okay... I've been running Linux for a few years now and have been running
a public server for over two.  And I'm still running kernel 2.0.36, since
I've not been pressed to upgrade and I hate to mess with a stable
configuration.  (I'm on a PII-class machine.)  I'm pretty Linux-savvy, but
I don't follow the kernel discussion at all and am kind of in the dark
here.  www.kernel.org doesn't say anything useful about choosing a kernel.

Now I'm needing to do VPN stuff that requires at least 2.0.38 or patches
to 2.0.36.  So I need to rebuild the kernel and disrupt my stable
environment... time to evaluate where I ought to go.  I'm also installing
an ATAPI tape drive, having problems with my ATAPI CDROM, and wondering if
a newer kernel won't have newer modules that fix some of my problems.

I have a test box when I can build a new kernel on, including testing
IPmasq and PPTP, etc so I can play around without risk to my stable
environment.

The curent "stable" version is 2.4.4... sounds like a far cry from 2.0.36.
Is this release really considered stable by the general Linux public?

Debian 2.2 (potato) contains 2.2.19pre17... is the 2.2.x series considered
preferable to the 2.4.x series right now?  Is there a generally "accepted"
kernel in use, much like 2.0.36 was pretty much "the" kernel for awhile?

Thanks for your advice.

--
Carl D Cravens (raven@xxxxxxxxxxx)
A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

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