Version numbers do mean nothing, we have always said that as kernel developers.

We don't break external APIs that people use, we break internal ones all the time, for good reasons. Read stable_api_nonsense.txt in the Linux kernel source tree for why we do this.

And I will take _any_ kernel driver into the tree, just send it to me, we don't reject anything, much to many people annoyance...

greg k-h

Not true, a number of the main kernel developers use bitkeeper to show who the original developer of the patch was. I know I do, as does Dave, Jeff, and a few others.

Some notible exceptions are Andrew Morton and Rusty's kernel patch monkey. So for people who sent in patches through them, yes you are correct. But the original patch author can easily be determined by looking at the changelogs for those submitted patches. It also would not be that hard for someone to go through and properly fish out the "real" numbers if they so wanted.

But the rate of change is the same, either way.