[wplug] Update the kernel?

Brandon Kuczenski brandon at 301south.net
Thu Jan 20 21:06:20 EST 2005


On Thu, 20 Jan 2005, Brad Hoover wrote:

> Anyway, I generally skip updating the kernel when I
> run up2date, but I have found that some packages (not
> that I really need these packages - I think?) need a
> newer kernel. I'm running 2.6.9.1-681.  It shows
> 2.6.10 as being available.  Should I update?  Should I
> update for every patch?  I looked at the change log on
> kernel.org, but at this point in my linux experience,
> I'm not sure what much of it means.
>

One of the first things I did (not, actually, by choice, but by necessity) 
when I first started running Linux on my laptop was to brew a custom 
kernel.  It wasn't too hard and there was a good howto [1] on TLDP [2]. 
Anyway, it gave me a feeling of empowerment, for one, and it allowed me to 
see how the lowest levels of the system work.  Furthermore, it didn't work 
the first time, which gave me a visceral understanding that mistakes are 
not fatal.

Even if you don't end up rolling your own kernel, I would recommend 
going into /usr/src/linux and running 'make menuconfig'.  Go through all 
the options -- they all have very descriptive 'help' options explaining 
what they do -- and you get to see exactly what abilities compiling your 
own kernel will provide you with.  As long as you exit without saving 
anything, you won't change the configuration (and even if you do, all 
you're changing is a .config file which is used when building a kernel).

As for your current situation, knowing little about your system, I would 
imagine that a kernel upgrade from 2.6.9 to 2.6.10 wouldn't matter much.

-Brandon


[1] http://www.digitalhermit.com/linux/Kernel-Build-HOWTO.html

[2] The howto seems to be "removed for review", but the above seems pretty 
complete, and in fact even more informative than the old one.


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