the corner office

From KernelTrap:

Most 2.6 Linux kernel releases have contained a unique name that is only visible within the top level makefile. Some examples, 2.6.17 was named "Lordi Rules", 2.6.16 was named "Sliding Snow Leopard", 2.6.14 was named "Affluent Albatross", and 2.6.13 was named "Woozy Numbat".

Kyle McMartin recently posted a patch to the lkml with the intention of making the kernel name visible, leading Linux creator Linus Torvalds to explain, "well, part of the charm of the name is that it's totally meaningless. I can pick names out of my *ss, and they don't matter in the least, and nobody will ever see it except in the kernel diffs."

If you're using a 2.6 kernel, and you've got the source code, you can probably see it for yourself with less /usr/src/linux/Makefile. I'm still running 'Sliding Snow Leopard' ;-)