kernel images in archlinuxarm.org core repository as of 2014-12-14 usable: whether the kernel package in question targets a board which is at least minimally usable with only libre software, to begin with. it doesn't imply the kernel shouldn't be deblobbed anyway. I think Parabola could still want to consider kernels marked with 'no' as long as the offending proprietary software must not to be shipped in the OS or loaded by it; think of how people install FSF-approved distros like Parabola on machines which wouldn't boot without a proprietary BIOS. that's why the next column was introduced: candidate: is one of the boards targeted by this kernel worth supporting? that is, could Parabola be installed and run on it regardless of nonfree firmware? version and legacy: perhaps the fact that a kernel might be up-to-date or outdated and still supported on [core] is more important than the verion itself. repeated: ArchARM's [core] isn't simply filled with board-specific and family-specific kernels, for some packages bleeding edge versions coexist along legacy ones. there are (always up-to-date?) release candidate (rc) kernels mirroring their released versions too. investigate why. headless duplicates proliferate as well. a generic kernel build could count as a replacement for a more focused one with the risk of losing functionality that isn't in mainline linux (or linux-libre). when these out-of-branch patches are outright proprietary (quite common unfortunately)[3] kernels compiled to support a hardware supperset should be considered, if available. scope: 1 for the most generic, ISA-version-wide kernels. 2 for a whole SoC vendor family within a single ISA version (i.e. TI, Freescale), 3 for a whole SBC family within a single SoC and ISA platform (i.e. linux-am33x for all OMAPs/Beaglebones), 4 for board-specific kernels. investigate what the -armvx appendix in package names means. usable candidate version legacy repeated ver. SoC_family board_family scope v7 (36) linux-armv7 y y 3.18.0 n y-rc 7 any any 1 linux-armv7-rc y y 3.18.rc7 n y-rc 7 any any 1 linux-am33x y[1] y 3.18.0 n y-legacy 7 TI/OMAP OMAP/Beaglebone 3 linux-am33x-legacy y[1] y 3.8.13 y y-legacy 7 TI/OMAP OMAP/Beaglebone 3 linux-armv7-ax3 ? ? 3.18.0 n y-rc 7 ? ? 3? linux-armv7-rc-ax3 ? ? 3.18.rc7 n y-rc 7 ? ? 3? linux-armv7-cubox ? ? 3.18.0 n y? 7 Marvell ? 3 or 4? linux-cubox ? ? 3.5.7 y y-headless 7 Marvell ? 4? linux-cubox-headless ? ? 3.5.7 y y-headless 7 Marvell ? 4? linux-armv7-d3plug ? ? 3.18.0 n y-many 7 Marvell ? 4? linux-d3plug ? ? 3.4.2 y y-many 7 ? ? 4? linux-armv7-rc-d3plug ? ? 3.18.rc7 n y-many 7 Marvell ? 4? linux-armv7-mirabox ? ? 3.18.0 n y-rc 7 Marvell ? 4? linux-armv7-rc-mirabox ? ? 3.18.rc7 n y-rc 7 Marvell ? 4? linux-armv7-rc-smileplug ? ? 3.18.rc7 n y-rc 7 Marvell ? 4? linux-armv7-smileplug ? ? 3.18.rc7 n y-rc 7 Marvell ? 4? linux-boundary ? ? 3.10.17 y n 7 ? ? 4 linux-chromebook n[1] ? 20140525 ? n 7 Samsung_Exynos none? 4 linux-chromebook2 n[1] ? 20140814 ? n 7 Samsung_Exynos none? 4 linux-imx6-cubox ? ? 3.0.35 y y-dt? 7 Freescale_iMX ? 3 linux-imx6-cubox-dt ? ? 3.14.26 y y-dt? 7 Freescale_iMX ? 3 linux-odroid-u2 n[1] ? 3.8.13.28 y n 7 Samsung_Exynos ? 4 linux-odroid-x2 n[1] ? 3.8.13.28 y n 7 Samsung_Exynos ? 4 linux-odroid-xu n[1] ? 3.4.104 y y-many 7 Samsung_Exynos ? 4 linux-odroid-xu-headless n[1] ? 3.4.104 y y-many 7 Samsung_Exynos ? 4 linux-odroid-xu-mainline n[1] ? 3.13.11 y y-many 7 Samsung_Exynos ? 4 linux-odroid-xu3 n[1] ? 3.10.60 y n 7 Samsung_Exynos ? 4 linux-parallella ? ? 3.12.0 y n 7 ? ? 4 linux-radxa ? ? 3.0.36 y n 7 ? ? 3? linux-sun4i y[1] y 3.4.103 y n-(cubieboard) 7 Allwinner A10/Sun4i 3 linux-sun5i y[1] y 3.0.57 y n? 7 Allwinner A13/Sun5i 3 linux-sun7i y[1] y 3.4.103 y n 7 Allwinner A20/Sun7i 3 linux-udoo ? ? 3.0.35 y y? 7 Freescale_iMX iMX6 4 linux-utilite ? ? 3.0.35 y y? 7 Freescale_iMX iMX6 4 linux-wandboard ? ? 3.10.17 y y? 7 Freescale_iMX iMX6 4 linux-zedboard ? ? 3.13.0 y n 7 Xilinx ? 4 v6 (2) linux-raspberrypi n[1] ? 3.12.34 y y-many 6 Broadcom BCM2835 4 linux-raspberrypi-latest n[1] ? 3.18.0 n y-many 6 Broadcom BCM2835 4 v5 (10, 2 worthless afaik) linux y y 3.1.10 y ? 5 any any 1 linux-armv5 y y 3.18.0-1 n y-many 5 any any 1 linux-armv5-rc y y 3.18.rc7 n y-many 5 any any 1 linux-armv5-test y y 3.13.0 y y-many 5 any any 1 linux-kirkwood ? ? 3.18 n y-dt? 5 Marvell ? ? linux-kirkwood-dt ? ? 3.18 n y-dt? 5 Marvell ? ? linux-mmp ? ? 3.10.62 y ? 5 Marvell PXA168/MMP ? linux-oxnas ? ? 3.12.6 y ? 5 PLX/Oxford NAS7820? ? linux-raspberrypi n[1] ? 3.12.34 y y-many 5 Broadcom BCM2835 4 linux-raspberrypi-latest n[1] ? 3.18.0 n y-many 5 Broadcom BCM2835 4 references: [1]: https://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/single-board-computers (mirror http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Hardware/Single_Board_Computers) [2]: http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Hardware/Laptops_Comparison/Laptop_to_evaluate [3]: http://linux-sunxi.org/GPL_Violations