Kernel updates in Ubuntu

[Ivan Avery Frey]

Fraser Campbell wrote:
> John McGregor wrote:
> 
>> I recently switched to Ubuntu 5.1 on my laptop (from Mandriva) and the
>> kernel updates offered have me a bit confused. The auto update function
>> of Ubuntu lists these three possibilities:
>>
>> linux-386
>> complete linux kernel on 386
>> new version 2.6.12.16.1
>>
>> linux-image-2.6.12-10-386
>> linux kernel image for version 2.6.12 on 386
>> new version 2.6.12-10.28
>>
>> linux-image-386
>> linux-kernel-image on 396
>> new version 2.6.12.16.1
> 
> Try this:
> 
>   apt-cache show linux-386 | grep ^Depends
>   apt-cache show linux-image-386 | grep ^Depends
>   apt-cache show linux-image-2.6.12-10-386 | grep ^Depends
> 
> My guess is that linux-386 depends on linux-image-386 which depends on 
> linux-image-2.6.12-10-386.  The chain of dependencies is to provide an 
> easy upgrade path for apt if you eventually upgrade to Ubuntu versions 
> beyond 5.10 ... at that point linux-image-386 might depend on 
> linux-image-2.6.16-10-386 instead of linux-image-2.6.12-10-386.
> 
> I use amd64 on my ubuntu so my dependencies are slightly differenty.  
> Like someone else said you may want to install linux-686 or similar 
> instead ... though it's not a sure performance gain.
> 

If you're using Debian Unstable these packages will upgrade the kernel to the 
most recent version.

BTW, linux-386 has been dropped and there is now a linux-486 in its place.

Oh, there is no question there is a performance gain over using linux-686 over 
linux 486 (if you have a compatible chip). We're talking about the kernel here.

Ivan.
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