Getting Started

RAD KERNEL for WHYRED

A clean custom Android Linux kernel for Redmi Note 5 Pro/AI (codenamed: whyred) with a blend of handy and neat features, newest linux kernel and CAF tags, and thorough tests.

this project lays out some quality stability to your device, also ensuring a sweet balance between device performance and its battery life. Hopefully getting you a bit closer to what you would wish to have out of your device.

What is a Linux and a Kernel?
Pretty much correct. To me, "linux" is just the kernel. But it is pretty common to refer to entire distributions as linux. That is what annoys RMS so much. He maintains it should be called GNU/Linux, as he sees distributions as the linux kernel plus the additional software from the GNU project. This makes sense too but I never use the term GNU/Linux. I am either talking about the kernel linux, or "linux distributions", or a specific distribution.

So yes. A distribution is just the kernel (which may include distribution specific patches) plus all the extra programs that make it usable.

The kernel is a central project, and is nominally the same in each distro, but most distros customize it a bit.

And the extra software doesn't just make the kernel more user friendly, it makes it usable at all. A kernel is just interrupt handlers, device drivers, and system calls. It basically virtualizes the hardware and provides a standard environment for programs to work on.

As far as the phrase "operating system" goes, it can be confusing. Some people may say the kernel IS the operating system, and everything else is either a utility or an application or something else. Other people may say the kernel plus some other packages make up the operating system, but most of the software is not part of the operating system. Others may say all the software in the distro forms part of the operating system.

What is an Android Kernel?
The Linux kernel is an extremely important part of the software on nearly every Android device. This section describes Linux kernel development and release models (below), stable and long-term supported (LTS) kernels (including why all Android devices should use stable releases instead of cherry picking patches), kernel configuration and hardening, requirements for interfaces and the modular kernels (introduced in Android O), kernel debugging and network testing, and SquashFS.

What does "stable/EOL" and "longterm" mean?
As kernels move from the "mainline" into the "stable" category, two things can happen:

They can reach "End of Life" after a few bugfix revisions, which means that kernel maintainers will release no more bugfixes for this kernel version, or They can be put into "longterm" maintenance, which means that maintainers will provide bugfixes for this kernel revision for a much longer period of time.

If the kernel version you are using is marked "EOL," you should consider upgrading to the next major version as there will be no more bugfixes provided for the kernel version you are using.

What is Android for MSM Project?
The Android for MSM project allows users to build an Android based platform containing additional enhancements for Qualcomm chipsets. The platform uses Google’s Android Linux implementation and tools.Code Aurora Forums is an implementation of this project.

It basically implies, apart from Updates from brands and companies, Qualcomm also released updates to their chipsets that may or maybe not be Merged into the OTA update you get from OEMS, it depends on the OEM.