Ubuntu markets its default Linux version as their "GA" kernel. GA stays on the same major version for the duration of that release's lifecycle, changes are small and backported. Same version lock as other packages, but Linux version determines supported hardware and OS features.
Kernel is unique in that there also are variant packages with other use cases and even other versions. From the Ubuntu kernel team, so reproducible builds, and support is available. "Hardware enablement" and "edge" are of particular interest:
- generic-hwe Targets a later version of the upstream kernel, and updates with respect to that every 6 months until it matches the GA kernel in the subsequent LTS release.
- generic-hwe-edge Provides early access to the next generic-hwe kernel.
HWE follows upstream closer, with fewer backports. So faster features, but at the price of more change. Normally hwe only gets upgraded to the next Ubuntu release's kernel, but the edge variants have newer versions. Often three versions total to choose from. (Note these are not necessarily the stable or longterm versions from kernel.org, distros do their own kernel maintenance.)
For some situations, the latest version of Ubuntu makes sense even if not a LTS. Especially if other software needs updating. Of course, non-LTS releases need major version upgrades faster.
In practice, to find what is available search packages.ubuntu.com for linux-generic and apply filters for suite and architecture.
