Re: Which kernel for Debian 9.3
On Wed, Dec 27, 2017 at 07:44:17AM -0800, ray wrote:
> I am installing Debian 9.3 non-free on anamd64 machine. During installation of the base system, it asks to choose a kernel
> Linux-image-4.9.0-4-amd64
> Linux-image-amd64
> What is the difference of these?
>
You probably want linux-image-amd64, which is a meta-package. It will
always depend on the latest amd64 kernel available in the archive. The
other package is version specific. If the kernel gets upgraded (for
example to linux-image-4.9.0-5-amd64, then you will not be automatically
upgraded. Likewise when Debian 10 is released as stable if you upgrade,
the linux-image-amd64 meta-package will ensure that you receive the new
kernel on upgrade, while the linux-image-4.9.0-4-amd64 package will have
your system continue to use the older kernel from Debian 9.
If you have older hardware and are concerned that support for some
component in your syste may be dropped in a future kernel and you want
to ensure that you don't get automatically upgraded to a new kernel,
then you may want the linux-image-4.9.0-4-amd64 package. But in that
case, you would have to take manual steps to move a newer kernel in the
future.
Regards,
-Roberto
--
Roberto C. Sánchez
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