Updating via yum/up2date

@terryr:

I've googled and looked through the forum and couldn't find an answer to my question.

The answers are in the forums, but they're in disguise. When you boil it down, you can't touch the kernel. Period. End of story. The reason for that has a few explanations from what I've seen, but at the end of the day, it's because allowing us to change the kernel allows us to gain more access to the host machine than we should have. It's a consequence of User Mode Linux, and you just need to accept it.

As for your updates, you need to make sure that your installed software works with the kernel you're running, but beyond that, the kernel is what it is. If there's something missing you want to see, ask Chris. I've found that he's very willing to add things, as needed, assuming that they don't break security.

But here's the good news. Even though we don't have direct control of the kernel, we do have our choice of feature-rich kernels to choose from and the vast majority of software doesn't care about the kernel. If yum/apt-get/up2date/whatever tries to update your kernel, about the worst case possible is that it'll waste a small amount of your disk space. That's all it can do.

Hmm. I seem to be rambling. Maybe that's because it's 6AM, I'm still drunk from last night and I need to go to bed. Ignoring all the down and dirty details, my basic answer is: Ignore the kernel. You can't change it–aside from booting into a different kernel that Chris provides. Most of your software won't care and your box will continue chugging along happily. I've been a linode user for 11 months and my server has never had a serious problem.

-- James

PS -> I'm drunk and tired. If I've said something stupid, someone please correct me. Thanks.

Thanks, James. Nothing stupid said. :) I thought that was the case about the kernel and security.

Terry