Re: kernel 2.2.x or 2.4.x ?

[Shyamal Prasad <shyamal.prasad@sbcglobal.net>]

    "Shango" == Shango Oluwa <debw@wenzani.worldonline.co.uk> writes:

    Shango> Why, if 2.4.x is more recent & secure, is my Debian 3
    Shango> (woody) CD distribution built with kernel 2.2.20 ?

    and in response to several good explanations "Shango" asks:

    Shango> Is kernel 2.4.21 considered safe for a production machine
    Shango> now?

I don't know about 2.4.21, but I can say this: I've had 2.4.18-686 up
for over 250 days on a workgroup server. The machine provides CVS
repositories, hosts Tomcat and Apache web services, and runs bug
tracking services for a group of about 30 developers. The machine runs
Debian Woody on an old 400 Mhz Dell with 128 MB RAM quite literally
rescued from a closet that got flooded. I have all the security
updates but one installed. I use the ext3 file system.

The 2.4.18 kernels for i386 compatible architectures were recently
patched for security. My uptime should tell you that I don't have
those patches.

Cheers!
Shyamal