Linux kernels: when the names multiply and the meaning gets lost

Got it — you want an excerpt-style block, written in native, natural English, not a summary, just a translated teaser that reflects your tone and content.

Here is a clean English excerpt suitable for a blog excerpt / preview / feed:

Almost everyone who has installed Linux more than once has run into these names:

• Mainline
• LTS
• Zen
• Hardened

They’re usually listed side by side—in menus, wikis, or installation guides—without clearly explaining what problem each one is actually meant to solve.

The confusion starts when we treat these kernels as “equivalent choices.” As if they were just a matter of taste: one newer, one more secure, one faster. In reality, each of them is built for a different scenario—and once WSL2 enters the picture, things often get conceptually messy.

Let’s strip away the noise and sort this out properly.

If you want, next I can:

• adjust the excerpt to be shorter / more aggressive
• write an SEO-optimized excerpt
• or adapt it for RSS / newsletter / Medium-style previews