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Ubuntu 15.10 Kernel Regression That Broke Graphics Displays In VMWare Patched
prisoninmate writes: On Monday, February 22, 2016, Softpedia reported on the availability of new kernel updates for several of Canonical's supported Ubuntu Linux operating systems, including Ubuntu 15.10, for which five kernel vulnerabilities have been patched at that point in time. And from the looks of it, the respective kernel updates introduced a regression, which Canonical patched four days later, on February 26, 2016, saying that the issue was introduced along with the fixed vulnerabilities for Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf) and it broke graphics displays for those running the OS in VMWare VMs.
News like this is important because it highlights the sorry state of Linux today.
Linux used to be all about quality, stability, reliability, and robustness. Linux is what we used to use when we wanted our computers to just work, and continue working.
Yet over the last 5 to 10 years, we've seen a massive decrease in quality across the board. It isn't just Ubuntu. This affects pretty much all distros.
Many of us switched to Linux in the first place because we were fed up with Windows repeatedly crashing, or Mac OS being too limited.
For a long time Linux was better than both of them. We could use Linux for months on end without it crashing, and it gave us the full power of a UNIX-like environment, too.
But that has been eroded away.
Like we see in this incident, Linux has become less-stable than Windows. First there are these kernel fixes, indicating a low quality to begin with. Then there was the regression introduced by the fixes, which further shows a lack of quality!
A kernel change should never break user space. Ever. As Linus Torvalds himself said, "If a change results in user programs breaking, it's a bug in the kernel. We never EVER blame the user programs. ... WE DO NOT BREAK USERSPACE!"
So not only is Linux now approaching the low level of stability we saw with Windows 95 and 98, but it's also stripping away the UNIX-like environment that made it so powerful. We're seeing more and more anti-UNIX software being included in most distributions, including systemd and GNOME 3.
So this makes many of us ask, Why the heck do we still use Linux?!
We need stability. We need a UNIX-like environment. We don't want to use Windows. Linux used to offer all of that, but no longer does. So many of us have moved to FreeBSD, with the rest going to OS X.
You might say, "Well, fuck off then! We don't need you!", but it turns out that we are the kind of people the Linux community desperately needs. We are the ones who contributed code, fixes, bug reports, and documentation. We are the people who helped make Linux what it is. As we've been slowly driven away from Linux we've seen the quality continue to fall and fall. We surely won't be coming back as long as that's the case!
So it could very well be a chicken-and-egg problem. Linux initially drew us in because it was better than the competitors. But now that it has become worse, thanks to efforts like systemd and GNOME 3, we are being driven away. And as we are driven away, Linux gets even worse and worse. But since it's getting worse, it doesn't draw us back in! The FreeBSD and OS X communities now benefit from our contributions, while Linux withers away.
If you run any NON LTS version of Ubuntu in Production then frankly, you deserve anything you get.
NON LTS versions are by their very nature unstable.
This is even truer because of the way Canonical use their own kernels which are forked from the mainstream one AND that they don't seem to contribute any patches back into the mainstream line.
As Linus Torvalds himself would say in this case, "Anonymous Coward, SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Seriously, read how our God and Savior has responded to similar kernel regressions in the past:
It's a bug alright - in the kernel. How long have you been a
maintainer? And you *still* haven't learnt the first rule of kernel
maintenance?
If a change results in user programs breaking, it's a bug in the
kernel. We never EVER blame the user programs. How hard can this be to
understand?
WE DO NOT BREAK USERSPACE!
Don't go fucking blaming VMware. It's a kernel bug. And as Lord Torvalds himself says, "WE DO NOT BREAK USERSPACE!"
And the thousand eyes didn't see this one? What's their excuse for the lack of proper QA this time?
I loaded up LTS on my vmware yesterday because I hit this bug on updating. Not production, but disappointing nonetheless.
Karnal
I found that 14.04 LTS would not run with the latest kernel under vmware But it has been updated and now does run (3.19.0-51)
Although I do see a post further down stating the same issue in 14.04, I have long since learned the hard way to stick with LTS releases, whether derivatives or Ubuntu proper (derivatives seem the worst in the case). When 15.10 came out, I installed it on a few machines. I am not go to cite specific problems so take this as an anecdotal if you must, but those systems were quickly converted to 14.04. Recently, and against my better judgement, I decided to install the 15.10 release of Ubuntu Studio. I have never, not even close, encountered such instability and such a remarkable number of error messages. Simple programs like Audacity would lock so frequently and badly, it took the system with it. I assume in the case such a drastic crash may be due to the implementation of a low-latency kernel. But it was so bad my only avenue for recovery was alt + F1. I re-installed the 14.04 version and have not experienced a single issue.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
it broke graphics displays for those running the OS in VMWare VMs.
I used to run Ubuntu for a home file server on a desktop PC with a Nvidia Geforce 4200 AGP video card. Every time the Nvidia driver got updated, it hosed the system and wouldn't boot. Every two to three months this would happen. I switched to FreeNAS in 2010 and haven't looked at Ubuntu since then.
I am surprised to see this on Slashdot, but this bit me. VM under VMWare fusion would not boot so I spent about 15 minutes on it and eventually booted under a previous kernel.
Normally, I do not reboot my Linux machines after every kernel update, but this was my desktop and I just want to get rid of the reboot notifications.
It's VMware, not VMWare. #pet #peeve
Last I heard, Ubuntu 15.10 is their latest stable release, not bleeding edge code or some unstable branch. Ubuntu 16.04 is their unstable branch.
That sounds a bit silly. I use Arch with of course the latest and greatest, but KDE has been pretty much rock stable. I never had this problem. What I do have a problem with is proprietary video drivers that have annoying issues.
When I initially updated and it borked, I didn't see anything in the googles that it broke and/or a fix, so I copied my home directory and installed LTS (via ssh). If I had been running something important, I wouldn't want that to crop up just because I updated on a whim, so I learned my lesson.
Karnal
My daily driver runs Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon under VMware 12 under Windows 10. All of those have been stable enough that the only unplanned reboots are due to power failures longer than what the UPS can handle, or me attaching flakey hardware (i.e., my own damn fault). That's way more stable than Windows 95 ever was. Not to mention Win95's propensity for forced reboots ("You have moved your mouse. Windows 95 must be restarted for this to take effect. Would you like to reboot your computer now?").
Did a security update over this weekend, as I always do when available. The update resulted in a reboot so there must have been a kernel update. Hosed my system big time, couldn't even get to the login page. Instead was getting "EQ Overflowing" errors in low graphics mode. Had to rebuild my Optimus laptop in my spare partition to recover. Running Optimus has been dicey at best since owning it.