My kernel version is ‘6.8.0-87-generic’ and hers is ‘6.14.00-33-generic’. My brother, who uses CachyOS, has kernel version ‘6.17.1-2-cachyos’. So it makes a little sense that the kernel is different. Even though I always thought that there was just one kernel that all Linux versions use.
But why is there a different kernel for the same distro?
I believe 6.14 is somewhat recent, so it might be just a matter of when each installation file was obtained. I recommend upgrading your 6.8 installation with a fresh download from your preferred source and a full reinstall. Extra recommendations: subscribe to some Linux newsletter to stay informed on future releases.
You can upgrade the Mint kernel to 6.14 via Software Manager > View > Linux Kernels. No full reinstall required.
Though, OP, unless there is a specific reason to change it or you just like doing so, I would leave it alone: don’t fix things that aren’t broken.
I think you might be replying to a bot
Oh, I see. From time to time, the update manager suggests kernel updates to me. But I seem to be in the 6.8 series, while she is in the 6.14 series. However, in the update manager, I can upgrade to the 6.14 series using the way you suggested. Is that a good idea?
I did it on one of my computers as I wanted a feature that was in 6.14. It didn’t cause any issues, nor should it. I believe the disto maintainer is simply being cautious and not having people auto-upgrade kernels as part of minor version upgrades.
Thank you! And it was exactly as you described: I upgraded from 22.1 to 22.2 and she downloaded version 22.2 straight away.