On 4 February 2018 at 15:20, Andy Smith <a...@strugglers.net> wrote: > Hi Michael, > > On Sat, Feb 03, 2018 at 11:44:39PM +0000, Michael Fothergill wrote: > > On 3 February 2018 at 23:14, Andy Smith <a...@strugglers.net> wrote: > > > If you want to make genuine constructive suggestions for how things > > > could be improved, I think you should start by identifying what > > > exactly the deficiencies are. > > > > Only wanting kernels quicker so chrooting not needed. > > Okay! That, Debian can do. > > Easiest thing to do when requiring a newer kernel would be to check > the backports suite, so in this case in stretch-backports we find > linux-image-amd64: > > <https://packages.debian.org/stretch-backports/linux-image-amd64> > > That's a virtual package that gets you the latest real kernel > package available in that suite, which right now is > linux-image-4.14.0-0.bpo.3-amd64: > > <https://packages.debian.org/stretch-backports/linux-image-amd64> > > >From there, if you look on the right you will see the Debian > changelog link > <http://ftp-master.metadata.debian.org/changelogs//main/l/ > linux/linux_4.14.13-1~bpo9+1_changelog> > which tells us that this corresponds to upstream release 4.14.13. > The upstream release was made on 10 January and this backports > package came on 14 January, so that's pretty swift. >
This is impressive stuff. I didn't know about this. It seems that Debian is swifter and more responsive than I thought here.......... > > Of course, there have been newer upstream kernel releases since > then, but you can see from the Debian changelog that a new package > is made available every couple of weeks. > Now that sounds like a way forward here........ > > A lot of the time that is going to be "new enough" for anyone > running Debian stable who for some reason needs a newer kernel. No > need for compiling anything, no chroot, just install different > binary packages from a different suite. It was no use for your > specific request because it still lags behind upstream a little bit > and it wasn't compiled with a new enough gcc. > > Yes, but what you have posted here suggests at least two good things. One is that these current kernels are actually very nearly there (and impressively so) with respect to offering both meltdown and spectre protection. And the joint fix is likely to come a lot faster than I had realised. > So what if you really do need to build a Debian kernel package based > off of the very latest upstream kernel release? > > If you take a look at the Debian Linux Kernel Handbook > <https://kernel-handbook.alioth.debian.org/> you will see there is a > section about rebuilding the kernel package > <https://kernel-handbook.alioth.debian.org/ch-common- > tasks.html#s-common-official>. > That isn't exactly what you want because it's talking about only > rebuilding from an existing source package, but it contains > instructions that you will also need later on. > > This is excellent - not just for me but for the brief period when a new user might want a bit extra flexiblity without too much technical difficulty - but I now realise that new kernels will likely also be put to debian stretch in the conventional way to solve this faster than I had thought as well. > Later on there's a section on building kernel packages from any > kernel source archive: > <https://kernel-handbook.alioth.debian.org/ch-common- > tasks.html#s-kernel-org-package>. > Using that process you can build kernel packages from the latest > kernel.org archive available. > I will read up on this. > > Usually you can do that on the stable release, no chroot needed, > just a few downloads, a few commands and a lot of CPU time. > > The reason why you were directed to do a lot more (chroot and gcc) > is because in the specific instance of Spectre a new gcc is needed > as well, and that was only available in Debian sid. Absent that > requirement, it is much simpler. > And it is only a temporary problem, and also I now realise the response to it will come a lot faster than I had realised. > So there you go, the Debian Kernel team has got you covered for a > variety of kernel-related needs. :) > Impressive stuff. I now realise that I was too gloomy in email posts and thinking in a "glass half full" kind of way. Debian has more firepower built into it than I had imagined. I apologise for being such a silly eeyore and grinch here. No more gloomy posts from now on! Regards MF > > Cheers, > Andy > > -- > https://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting > >
