The title is incorrect on several levels. Not the least of which is that it is the distributions that determine whether to use wheel, not the Linux kernel. For

The title is incorrect on several levels. Not the least of which is that it is the distributions that determine whether to use wheel, not the Linux kernel. For example, in Fedora 15 we are now using wheel to add users as administrators who are able to sudo to root. This is easily enabled by checking the 'Administrator' box during firstboot's setup of the user account.