Windows 3.0 came out in 1988, didn't it?
Well, 23 years! It's about time Linux caught up!
Given this trend, we'll see Linux 3.1 in 2014, then followed closely with Linux 3.11, then Linux 15 will be rushed out in 2015, and then Linux 2020 at the turn of the decade, before it's totally changed to a lettering system with the release of Linux FB (foo-bar) in 2021.
Of course, to keep up with the times, we won't have version numbers then, but kernel-packs, so we'll be using Linux FBKP1, FBKP2, and so on.
I guess he'll tire of that, so we'd switch to using names like Linux Diorama, before Linus realizing that he really likes numbers, so the next releases would be Linux7 and Linux8. "You'll like it!", he says firmly. (R)
Anyways, it was *very* tongue-in-cheek. But I still hope to be (capable of) using some form of Linux in 2038 when I'm past 70, whatever version it is then.*