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I update my system every day and have noticed that the kernel gets regular updates as well as the other installed software. For instance, the latest is:

xxxxxxxxxx-xxviii:~$ uname -a
Linux xxxxxxxxxx-xxviii 5.4.0-54-generic #60-Ubuntu SMP Fri Nov 6 10:37:59 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

This "0-54" is the part I'm interested in. Presumably after an Ubuntu LTS is released, the kernel just gets security updates, nothing more, and this "54" is the 54th security update revision to the kernel by Canonical?

With regards to the "generic" part, I assume this means that the kernel dynamically loads whichever drivers are necessary per machine [I remember Slackware has a "generic" and "huge" kernel, though these days there is little reason to use the latter].

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    The kernel gets more than just security updates. It also gets bug fixes, 0-44 had bug that prevented a few laptop keyboards from working. It also receives new driver updates. No kernel is perfect.
    – crip659
    Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 12:29
  • generic only means that it is a standard 250 Hz basic tick rate kernel. low latency only means that it is a 1000 Hz basic tick rate kernel.
    – Doug Smythies
    Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 16:52

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  • No, that's ABI number, extension to kernel version, managed by Ubuntu kernel team. but it could be security, regular, back-port update ... depending on which team uploading it and to which repository channel.

    ABI is pumped if there is symbols change or remove, in addition to security update.

    Reference: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/BuildSystem/ABI

  • -generic is a kernel version tag, specific to Ubuntu kernel. Ubuntu kernel team releases few kernels/flavors differ in build configuration. -generic is for regular machines and usage.

    Some examples check https://wiki.kubuntu.org/Kernel/FAQ/KernelFlavourDifferences

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