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A Flood of Stable Linux Kernels Released

Julie188 writes "Greg Kroah-Hartman has released five new stable Linux kernels, correcting minor errors of their predecessors and including improvements which are unlikely to generate new errors. As so often with kernel versions in the stable series, it remains undisclosed if the new versions contain changes which fix security vulnerabilities, although the number of changes and some of the descriptions of those changes certainly suggest that all the new versions contain security fixes."

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  1. Who does upgrade ? by alvieboy · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I don't think people realise that less than 2% of Linux users will actually download, configure and compile its own kernel.
    So it's actually irrelevant if changelogs or announcements depict whether high-risk security fixes were or were not applied.
    You, as a Linux Distribution user (Ubuntu, Debian, RedHat, SuSe, you name it) do not care about it. You just want to upgrade your system. And you will - if your distro maintainer sees any urgency to push this or that fix.
    And kernel maintainers (distro) happen to know exactly what's on the table. They follow the mailing lists, they follow bugtrackers.
    Even if a bug shows up relevant enough to cause panic among everyone, no one will update their systems by hand. Instead they will rely on "standard maintenance procedures", like running their favourite distro-specific upgrade program.
    Just like M$ Windows people do. And Apple. And just like everyone else.
    People still use IE6. People still use W95. People still use OS2.
    You are all paranoid if you think otherwise.
    Álvaro