I am currently running the 5.8 Kernel and have the 5.4 LTS one installed. Any drawbacks to using the 5.4 LTS over the 5.8? Like more Limited Hardware support?
Just wondering if using LTS also means Older Drivers are loaded instead of what is Current?
Just wondering if using LTS also means Older Drivers are loaded instead of what is Current?
Yes it does. The kernel contains almost all the drivers.
The question is though, why are you thinking about using the LTS kernel? Any problems with 5.8?
No problems that I am aware of, or at least that would be fixed by using the LTS Kernel anyway.
How much time is there between LTS Kernel Releases anyway?
Then Iâd recommend you to just let it be. âNever change a running systemâ 
One per year, and supported for 6 years: The Linux Kernel Archives - Releases
No, the question is âwhy would you use something else than the LTS kernel?â Any issue with current LTS kernel? Any feature youâre missing?
Speaking for myself, like I told @Zamundaaa I currently do not have any issues with using the current Kernel.
Come to think of it. I moved away from Fixed Release Distros due to issues with Stale Packages and that the Rolling Release Model has several advantages namely ease of keeping up to date and newer drivers.
However that one is another TopicâŚ
By the way all kernel info are at kernel.org if you didnât know. You can see the release cycles.
// EDIT:
When will the next kernel be released?
The next kernel will be released when it is ready. There is no strict timeline for making releases, but if you really need an educated guess, visit the Linux kernel PHB Crystal Ball â it tries to provide a ballpark guess based on previous kernel release schedule.
For me kernel 5.4 is a good bit behind in amdgpu patches. No idea if thereâs a big performance difference but 5.8 works fine and always has, so thereâs no reason to even install 5.4âŚ
As a backup it is a good idea to keep the latest LTS kernel that works for you and then run whatever kernel you want to run for your daily use. (if you are using the latest LTS kernel as your daily driver then it might be a good idea to keep the one prior to fallback on). That way if the latest and greatest breaks something for you can usually rely on the LTS kernel to get you back up and running again quickly. It is also going to depend on your hardware. If you have a 10 year old system then you probably arenât gaining a whole lot, if anything from running the latest and greatest kernel that is out there. One of the great things about Manjaro is they have made keeping and switching between kernels super easy to do for just about anyone at all knowledge levels.
If you really want to know exactly what a given kernel is doing or what has been added reading through the changelogs (there is enough info to put most people to sleep lol)
https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/
is where you can find the changelogs for every version of kernel that has been released.
Being the current and latest Long Term Support kernel officially supported by Manjaro, is kinda a good reason to install it. Not even talking about missing modules sometimes in the latest kernels available, or the issues to be fixed in the âlatest and greatestâ kernels. Using the LTS kernel is a good way to first not worry about kernel breakage, end of life, issues to be fixed, and is supposedly the current most stable/reliable kernel available to you.
Sure you can benefit from using the âlatest and greatestâ, but that was my point, why would you use something else than LTS, if you canât answer you probably shouldnât (it can be better hardware support for last gen video card or CPU, things like that, but I wouldnât use something else than LTS without proper reason).
Whatever this is off topic now. Next LTS will come when itâs ready, probably this year if it follows the LTS release on kernel.org front page.
Remember, the official Linux kernel is managed by Linus. If he is not satisfied with something like 5.9, he will not release it. That is what he working on now. The schedule for the release of all Linux kernels is this: Linus will release the next kernel when he absolutely knows it performs correctly.`