A question about the last security update for Ubuntu ("ATTENTION: Due to an unavoidable ABI change...") [duplicate]

I'm subscribed to the Ubuntu Security Notes, so everytime that I receive an e-mail, a new update is avalable.

But in the last update, they wrote something in the end that I coudn't undertand much, so can anyone please tell me what does that means?

ATTENTION: Due to an unavoidable ABI change the kernel updates have
been given a new version number, which requires you to recompile and
reinstall all third party kernel modules you might have installed. If
you use linux-restricted-modules, you have to update that package as
well to get modules which work with the new kernel version. Unless you
manually uninstalled the standard kernel metapackages (e.g. linux-generic,
linux-server, linux-powerpc), a standard system upgrade will automatically
perform this as well.

I tried to ask to my friend (who also uses Linux), but he don't know much about kernel.

Solution 1:

Linux (the Kernel) is mainly an abstraction layer for different kinds of hardware. It's a common ground where other software can built on top, not caring whether it runs on your smart phone or on your notebook. The people making that piece of software are very concerned to never ever ever break compatibility with existing software. The ABI is the bridge between the Kernel and the other software on it. They only change it if something is really badly broken or if they find a security hazard they can't fix otherwise.

Therefore they make it quite clear once they do break the ABI behaviour somewhere.

(This is all very funny to me, since most of the other core-software on a linux breaks compatibility to software running on it right and left.)

Anyway, this is very unlikely to effect you as a user.