In the last The Queue, I flipped the script and asked you questions as opposed to answering them. It was so well received, I’m going to keep it going with three more questions this month. I’ll resume answering next month, so don’t forget you can fill the queue with your questions about Linux, building and maintaining communities, contributing to an open source project, and anything else you’d like to know. While the previous two questions were a bit philosophical, this month we’ll keep it fun.

Uptime

What is the uptime on your main Linux installation?

For me right now, it’s 22 days. When I asked this question at LinuxQuestions.org, it was a bit of a surprise that over 25% of respondents answered, “Less than a day.”

On the other end of the spectrum, four people claimed an uptime of over 10 years!

Those outliers aside, I’d expect uptime has trended up in the recent past, especially as a result of technologies such as kpatch making mainline. While mostly a numerical answer, some of the responses explaining “why” were also interesting, so feel free to include as much information as you’d like in the comments.

Hostnames

How do you come up with the naming scheme for your Linux hostnames?

You may have multiple responses for different schemes used at home, at work, for servers, etc. The answers to this question will undoubtedly run the gamut. From animals and beers to the more utilitarian city/rack/function style naming, every time I think I’ve seen it all I come across a new naming scheme that makes me chuckle.

Kernel

Do you compile your own kernel or use the one shipped with your distribution? If you do compile your own, do you use the official tree or a different one?

I’m also curious about your reasons for doing so. While I used to always compile my own kernel, and even maintained the -lq kernel patchset for a while, these days I invariably use the one shipped with whatever distro I’m using. Over 75% of LQ responses indicate that I’m not alone in this.

Jump in and answer these questions. It will not only help the Opensource.com community learn more about how we’re all using Linux, but also teach us a little bit about each other.