X-Received: by 2002:a5d:6511:: with SMTP id x17mr14757692wru.313.1612118186996; Sun, 31 Jan 2021 10:36:26 -0800 (PST) Path: ...!news-out.google.com!nntp.google.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: Mike Easter Newsgroups: alt.computer.workshop Subject: Linux kernel updating Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2021 10:36:23 -0800 Lines: 43 Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Trace: individual.net 1/TJjb/x6Hbyff18oFJt3wqm91pGD6cSuLyEVTMjOGijPAtjPm Cancel-Lock: sha1:2ogv+zq3MVCWMOUYdtEqxhqKGjk= X-Mozilla-News-Host: news://news.individual.net:119 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/68.10.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Language: en-US Bytes: 4086 https://www.fosslinux.com/1015/what-is-linux-kernel-and-should-you-upgrade-to-the-latest-kernel.htm What is Linux Kernel, and should you upgrade to the latest Kernel? Updated: September 20, 2018 (usefulness low) https://blog.kernelcare.com/5-bad-reasons-to-update-your-linux-kernel 5 Bad Reasons to Update Your Linux Kernel Jan 7, 2020 (useful medium) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kpatch kpatch is a feature of the Linux kernel that implements live patching of a running kernel, ... kpatch allows kernel-related security updates to be applied without deferring them to scheduled downtimes. (useful medium) https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxquestions/comments/65v98o/should_i_be_upgrading_linux_kernels/ Should I be upgrading Linux Kernels? Discussion started 3 y ago - 13 comments (useful) 1 cited comment: > To clarify: it's fine not to upgrade kernels, but if you take that approach - i.e. do not upgrade kernels - then you should install all the security updates Mint offers you. For, new kernels bring security fixes, and those fixes get 'backported' (often, anyway) via security updates. If you install neither new kernels nor the security updates, then you are leaving your system too unprotected. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-reasons-update-kernel-linux/ 5 Reasons Why You Should Update Your Kernel Often [Linux] May 07, 2012 (useful medium; most points rebutted by the 5 Bad article above) Distro example: The Linux Mint Update Manager has a Help function in which it 'advises' the different kinds of updates (software, security, kernel) > Security is very important but also very technical. Vulnerabilities don't always affect your computer and can be quite difficult to understand. Most people don't understand them at all and their personal computers are rarely at risk. That said, a security breach can have dire consequences, so it is always recommended to take them seriously. > Software updates aren't as important. They bring bug fixes or improvements which are not related to security. > In Linux Mint, kernel updates bring both security patches and bug fixes (and sometimes even new features), and they impact critical parts of the operating system. This makes kernel updates important from a security point of view, but also prone to regressions which can be hard to fix for novice users. Mint also rec/s using Snapshot, and of course grub gives access to previous kernels at boot: Mint's help on updating also says this: > In Linux Mint, kernel updates bring both security patches and bug fixes (and sometimes even new features), and they impact critical parts of the operating system. This makes kernel updates important from a security point of view, but also prone to regressions which can be hard to fix for novice users. > From a security point of view, it is important to apply kernel updates. > A kernel regression could however affect your ability to connect to the Internet, to start your desktop environment or even to boot the operating system. > For this reason it is important to be cautious when applying kernel updates and to know how to revert them when something goes wrong. -- Mike Easter