Linux Yocto

Each release of the Yocto Project includes two versions of the Linux kernel with a broad range of hardware support. While tooling is provided to use any Linux kernel you wish, the linux-yocto Linux kernel recipes are tested with all the emulated targets, the core hardware BSPs, and some vendor layers.

While the timing of Linux kernel releases is the domain of the upstream kernel maintainers and beyond the control of the linux-yocto maintainers, making version roadmaps predictions at best, the Yocto Project commits to providing a near-current and a latest LTSI linux-yocto version with each release of the Yocto Project. The final selection of the versions is made approximately six weeks prior to the development cutoff of the final development milestone.

Reviewing prior releases is illustrative of the process:

• Yocto Project 1.4
  • linux-yocto_3.4
  • linux-yocto_3.8
• Yocto Project 1.5
  • linux-yocto_3.4
  • linux-yocto_3.10
• Yocto Project 1.6
  • linux-yocto_3.10
  • linux-yocto_3.14

While we make every effort to select a longterm Linux kernel for each new release kernel, occasionally our releases do not align with those of the Linux kernel, as was the case with the Yocto Project 1.4 release and the 3.8 kernel. In these cases, the non-longterm kernel version will be dropped in the subsequent release, rather than becoming the next LTSI kernel. This can be seen int he 1.5 release where 3.8 was effectively dropped, 3.4 remained as the LTSI kernel, and 3.10 was added as the new release kernel.