What is version 2.7.8-Knoppix?

When bootig Knoppix 3.8 (the CeBIT version just now, but I think I've seen this with 3.8.1 also), I get a line early in the booting that says INIT: version 2.7.8-Knoppix booting. This is followed by a line that says Linux Kernel 2.6.11, so we're clearly not talking about a kernel version. Knoppix itself is version 3.8. So what is this 2.78 version number?

It's the version of the customized "init" program Knoppix uses. Source code here.

("init.c", line 94: "char *bootmsg = "version 2.78-knoppix %s";")

Thanks