Distributions supporting Kernel 3.16?

Question

How can I determine which Ubuntu distribution support Kernel 3.16? Is there a table or spreadsheet link somewhere which list ALL of the various Ubuntu distributions to date and the Linux Kernel versions they support? Thanks...

Answer 1

No Ubuntu versions automatically update 3.16 kernel

As per this answer posted by Pilot6: The automatic updates for my Kernel (3.16.0-30) are giving an older version (3.13.0-100) users who were on Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS were automatically downgraded from Kernel 3.16 to kernel 3.13.

If you choose to use kernel 3.16 you will have to install it manually and update it manually: How to update kernel to the latest mainline version without any Distro-upgrade?

Kernel Version 3.16 is LTS

Ubuntu versions 14.04, 16.04 and soon-to-be-released 18.04 are LTS (Long Term Support) and supported for five years. Mainline Linux Kernels also have LTS versions; 3.16, 4.4, 4.9 and 4.14.

In the 3.16 series of kernels, meltdown mitigation was introduced in Kernel version 3.16.52 and enhanced in Kernel 3.16.53.

Installing Kernel Version 3.16

When you install 3.16.53 kernel on Ubuntu version 14.04 LTS or 16.04 LTS you might get these errors:

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-3.16.53-031653-generic:
 linux-image-3.16.53-031653-generic depends on module-init-tools (>= 3.3-pre11-4ubuntu3); however:
  Package module-init-tools is not installed.
dpkg: error processing package linux-image-3.16.53-031653-generic (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 linux-image-3.16.53-031653-generic

To repair the dependency errors you will need to run:

sudo apt-get -f install

Then you need to install module-init-tools:

sudo apt-get module-init-tools

Finally you can install your 3.16.53 kernel version again.