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Vanilla Kernel 2.6 Stability vs 2.4?

Posted by Cliff on from the to-upgrade-or-not dept.

chromis asks: "I am a 'Linux-from-scratch' like Linux user. I maintain my system for almost 4 years that way. I'm still using kernel 2.4, and I'm a little bit afraid for updating to 2.6 because of the problems like stability issues, driver subsystem problems, etc. I once tried 2.6.0 a long time ago, but I experienced random freezes which I could not diagnose. We all know about the development model issues, and I often read complaints about current kernel development practices. Now that kernel 2.6.13 is out, I really want to ask Slashdot: if you are a vanilla 2.6 kernel user, how are your experiences with these plain kernel.org 2.6 kernels? Is it really as bad as some people claim, or is 2.6 only usable when using a distro from a large vendor like Red Hat, SuSE, etc? I really would like to upgrade to the new vanilla 2.6 kernel eventually, but I'm a little hesitant. Any advice?"

5 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. This I know by xactuary · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am running the older kernel and it kept me from getting first post.

    --
    Say hello to my little sig.
  2. Re:Seems ok. by LordoftheWoods · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is an LFS user. Hassle is desirable. So yea, he definately needs it.

  3. Re:Does this help? by GoRK · · Score: 3, Funny

    I moved an old 486/33 server once back in the day while it was in the middle of the OS install... We had started in one building in the room we thought we were getting, but we ended up getting a room on the entire opposite side of campus. Since installing a linux distro in this day was not exactly a speedy process, we decided to go ahead and move it while it worked. Three of us carried it.. One fellow on the CPU, one on the UPS, and one on the monitor -- we decided that if we were going to move a running computer, UPS alarms blazing it would be pointless for people to see us doing it without the screen powered up and scrolling mounds of text. We decided to hand carry it also as we though rolling it on a dolly might harm the running hard drive due to vibration.

  4. Another analogy would be: by imr · · Score: 2, Funny

    "I'm an old slashdot user. I'm afraid people on slashdot wouldnt understand my perfectly understandable and clear point in a computer related discussion, so I make an analogy with cars."

  5. oh my god by XO · · Score: 2, Funny

    self-sufficient linux user for 4 years doing Linux from Scratch, and you don't know how to flip between kernels?

    I ran continuously from 2.5.56 (after my SCSI driver started working again) until 2.6.13 ? or so that was out about 4 weeks ago.

    Had virtually no kernel related problems.

    Then I switched to Windows.

    Life is much easier now.

    --
    "Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/