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Re: Installing Newest Kernel



David R. Litwin wrote:
> I currently have Sarge, Kernel 2.6.8 and would like to upgrade to 2.6.10
> (The newest kernel). It is not available via aptitude (That gives me
> only my current Kernel). So, what do I do?
> 
> Thank you in advance.
> 

No offense, but if you have to ask, you may want to do a bit more
learning.  Regardless, there are basically 3 options:

1. Official kernel-image from Debian
2. Official kernel-source from Debian
3. Vanilla source from kernel.org

If you just want a more recent kernel image, you can add sid to your
sources.list (or change from sarge to sid).   Once that is done, do
an 'aptitude update' and you should have the latest images available.
You can also go to http://packages.debian.org and search for the
latest packages and download directly from the website.

The same holds for the official kernel-source.  However, this will
require you to compile your own kernel.  If you are interested in
compiling your own kernel, this is the safest way to go (along with
the tools in kernel-package and a visit to the newbiedoc project on
sf.net: http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/system/kernel-pkg.html

Option 3 is not to be taken lightly.  It is only recommended if you
are absolutely certain that the Debian kernel-image or kernel-source
will *not* work for you, or if you are a kernel hacker.  Occasionally,
the kernels that are shipped from kernel.org contain serious bugs
or security vulnerabilities.  There is also a good chance that if
such a bug is discovered, it will not be fixed until a future release
and you would be the one that has to patch the kernel yourself.

Hopefully this has been at least informative.  Just consider at least
that if your current kernel works for you and the latest one does
not provide support for some new hardware that you need or some really
great improvement in performance/reliability/stability, then you may
want to stick with what you have.  I know it does not sound particularly
glamorous, but why give yourself a chance to screw things up for no
reason.

-Roberto

-- 
Roberto C. Sanchez
http://familiasanchez.net/~sanchezr

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