Question

Before 2.6 Linux moved up from 2.0 to 2.2 to 2.4 every few years. Why did it stop at 2.6?

Is the version number ever going to go beyond 2.6?

Answer 1

It is moving. It is just first two digits became irrelevant. From the Wiki:

Since 2004, after version 2.6.0 was
released, the kernel developers held
several discussions regarding the
release and version scheme and
ultimately Linus Torvalds and others
decided that a much shorter release
cycle would be beneficial. Since then,
the version has been composed of three
or four numbers. The first two numbers
became largely irrelevant, and the
third number is the actual version of
the kernel. The fourth number accounts
for bug and security fixes (only) to
the kernel version.