Summary:Linus Torvalds has decided to move the Linux kernel release from 3.19.x to 4.0 more from whimsy then from a serious need.
Usually, when a software release moves to a new single digit release, it's a big deal. When Linus Torvalds decided to shift the Linux kernel from 3.2x it was just to make developers happy.
As Torvalds, Linux's founder, said on his Google+ account: "So, I made noises some time ago about how I don't want another 2.6.39 where the numbers are big enough that you can't really distinguish them. We're slowly getting up there again, with 3.20 being imminent, and I'm once more close to running out of fingers and toes."
So Torvalds set up a survey where the choices were: "I like big versions and I cannot lie." and "v.4.0, 'cause I get confused easily." This "scientific" survey showed 56 percent of the respondents wanted version, so Torvalds decided to give it to them.
First though, over 6,000 people voted on a test poll , which Torvalds asked to be ignored, where the choices were "I like online pools" and "Hurr durr I'ma sheep". The winner was sheep with 64 percent of the vote.
As Torvalds remarked on the 4.0 git notification:
After extensive statistical analysis of my G+ polling, I've come to the inescapable conclusion that internet polls are bad.
Big surprise.
But "Hurr durr I'ma sheep" trounced "I like online polls" by a 62-to-38% margin, in a poll that people weren't even supposed to participate in. Who can argue with solid numbers like that? 5,796 votes from people who can't even follow the most basic directions?
In contrast, "v4.0" beat out "v3.20" by a slimmer margin of 56-to-44%, but with a total of 29,110 votes right now. Now, arguably, that vote spread is only about 3,200 votes, which is less than the almost six thousand votes that the "please ignore" poll got, so it could be considered noise.
But hey, I asked, so I'll honor the votes.
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