Linux distros can still do…questionable things. In grad school I tried Arch for a bit, and I once was late to a video call because I had updated my kernel but did not reboot. Arch decided that because there was a new kernel installed, I didn’t need the modules for the old — but currently running! — kernel, so it removed them. So when I plugged in a webcam, the webcam module was nowhere to be found.
But yeah…somehow, still not as bad as Windows updates.
Coming from Debian, it was…not expected. I understand how and why it happened, but the user experience was surprising.
Debian keeps the previous kernel around, which makes perfect sense to me — in the event that a kernel update borks your system you can just load the previous one. This would probably only happen due to out of tree modules (looking at you, Nvidia…).
That’s how the update process for the kernel works. The currently running kernel and active modules are kept in RAM, while all files on disk are replaced. These new files can’t be used by your old kernel meaning you can’t load new modules.
Coming from Debian, it was…not expected. I understand how and why it happened, but the user experience was surprising.
Debian keeps the previous kernel around, which makes perfect sense to me — in the event that a kernel update borks your system you can just load the previous one. This would probably only happen due to out of tree modules (looking at you, Nvidia…).
Linux distros can still do…questionable things. In grad school I tried Arch for a bit, and I once was late to a video call because I had updated my kernel but did not reboot. Arch decided that because there was a new kernel installed, I didn’t need the modules for the old — but currently running! — kernel, so it removed them. So when I plugged in a webcam, the webcam module was nowhere to be found.
But yeah…somehow, still not as bad as Windows updates.
I wouldn’t call that a questionable thing. Reading through how it happened paints a crystal clear picture of cause and effect.
Coming from Debian, it was…not expected. I understand how and why it happened, but the user experience was surprising.
Debian keeps the previous kernel around, which makes perfect sense to me — in the event that a kernel update borks your system you can just load the previous one. This would probably only happen due to out of tree modules (looking at you, Nvidia…).
That’s how the update process for the kernel works. The currently running kernel and active modules are kept in RAM, while all files on disk are replaced. These new files can’t be used by your old kernel meaning you can’t load new modules.
Coming from Debian, it was…not expected. I understand how and why it happened, but the user experience was surprising.
Debian keeps the previous kernel around, which makes perfect sense to me — in the event that a kernel update borks your system you can just load the previous one. This would probably only happen due to out of tree modules (looking at you, Nvidia…).