Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

[e8hffff]

Just like to say that with so many open source packages and the big community, why is it so that there are few updates? Ubuntu/Kubuntu 11.10 has been the level with the least amount of patches and updates I've noticed in years. There simply seems to be little happening.

Some example of slow releases is Wine and FGLRX ATI drivers. Still now drivers or wine even though the official versions where out a while ago.

Anyone like to comment? ..

Is Android attracting all the developers?

[woodsmoke]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

Maybe you have the perfect setup and don't need any updates!

I don't tend to see many updates either, and when they do arrive they tend to be in big "bunches".

This, as opposed to say Adobe that, on a Windblows system has an update about every day so that they can take you to their site and hawk their wares.

MS has a security update about every ....ummmm five minutes! wonder why?

woodsmoke

[PaulW2U]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

Just like to say that with so many open source packages and the big community, why is it so that there are few updates? Ubuntu/Kubuntu 11.10 has been the level with the least amount of patches and updates I've noticed in years. There simply seems to be little happening.

Most of my updates are from KDE and they tend to arrive 100MB+ at a time but I think you're right there does seem to be less updates now than there was previously. I also have a few PPAs that I get updates from so they produce a few small downloads each week.

KDE 4.7.4 is due out around 6th December so there will be plenty to download then.

[NoWorries]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

I have found that as well and have been patiently waiting for a kernel update to 3.1. I found a way to do it at http://www.howopensource.com/2011/08...-10-and-10-04/ but I have not done that yet as I thought it would be best to patiently wait for it being officially released. Has anyone tried this yet?

Patience is the ability to count down before you blast off.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

Why mess with perfection?

I noticed that I wasn't getting updates for my Lucid as frequently as I used to. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that Lucid has been forgotten. I have no doubt that if a security hole appeared in a Kubuntu package or file an update would be installed ASAP. Aside from that, I haven't seen a need to update anything on my Lucid. It is running perfectly, as is every app I use. I've even begun playing a couple games: Minecraft and "Enemy Territory", both of which run perfectly, albeit ET makes my mouse hand to begin shaking after a half hour or so, and I've been killed so many times without killing any enemy I've got the record... I spend99% of my game playing in Minecraft. It's loads of fun!

[dibl]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

I have found that as well and have been patiently waiting for a kernel update to 3.1......

Has anyone tried this yet?

Well, not exactly with *buntu, but ...

don@imerabox:~$ uname -r
3.1-2.slh.3-aptosid-amd64
don@imerabox:~$ uptime
 17:39:37 up 3 days, 8:34, 3 users, load average: 1.26, 0.49, 0.26

So, yeah -- it can be done.

[SteveRiley]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

I have found that as well and have been patiently waiting for a kernel update to 3.1. I found a way to do it at http://www.howopensource.com/2011/08...-10-and-10-04/ but I have not done that yet as I thought it would be best to patiently wait for it being officially released. Has anyone tried this yet?

In Ubuntu's wiki, the Kernel/Mainline Builds page has the following warning:

Do mainline kernel builds include Ubuntu specific drivers?
By definition the mainline kernel builds are made from virgin unaltered mainline kernel sources and therefore do not, and should not, include any Ubuntu patches or drivers. There are also no binary drivers for these kernels.

I can't seem to find documentation that describes the "Ubuntu patches [and] drivers." That's the only thing that holds me back from using mainline kernels.

Does anyone here know what's different between real Ubuntu kernels and the mainline builds?

[dibl]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

Does anyone here know what's different between real Ubuntu kernels and the mainline builds?

Steve, I dunno if you can tease the answer out of this -- maybe: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile

[GreyGeek]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

I used to tweak my kernels when I was running RH 5.0, SuSE and a few extinct or lesser known distros. I stopped doing that when I began running Mandrake (now Mandriva).

I never had to apply a patch because doing so wasn't required. What one usually did was to download the Linux source code for the already pre-compiled for the distro. CD into the Linux src directory, and issue

make menuconfig

, which presented an elaborate list of menus that allowed one to set or unset specific drivers in the specific source code, or change parameters for those drivers. Once the settings were made and compiling was done one had to copy the compress file, "vmlinuz" to the boot section, along with a couple other files that were generated. Drivers were either compiled into the kernel or were created as modules which could be loaded or unloaded at will.

But, as I understand it, current Ubuntu kernels come with all the drivers precompiled as modules. You can see what modules are available for "modprobe"ing or "rmmod"ing by running

locate *.ko

in a Konsole. ".ko" is the extension for kernel objects, precompiled kernel modules. On my system there are well over 11,000 ".ko" files

Compiling your own kernel under Ubuntu is a little more complicated. A method for doing so is given here, which includes several ways of doing it.

edit: many modules have "params", parameter setting which can be set in /etc/modprobe.d/options.conf
Mine has the following in it:

cat /etc/modprobe.d/options.conf
options iwlagn swcrypto=1 11n_disable=1

which was needed to prevent my iwlagn driver from repeatedly disconnecting and reconnecting my wifi.

You can use "modinfo" on a module, for example:

~$ modinfo iwlagn
filename:    /lib/modules/2.6.35-25-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwlagn.ko
alias:     iwl4965
license:    GPL
author:     Copyright(c) 2003-2010 Intel Corporation <ilw@linux.intel.com>
version:    in-tree:
description:  Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link AGN driver for Linux
firmware:    iwlwifi-4965-2.ucode
firmware:    iwlwifi-5150-2.ucode
firmware:    iwlwifi-5000-2.ucode
firmware:    iwlwifi-6000g2a-4.ucode
firmware:    iwlwifi-6050-4.ucode
firmware:    iwlwifi-6000-4.ucode
firmware:    iwlwifi-1000-3.ucode
srcversion:   A52B190E945B17CC5225130
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000084sv*sd00001316bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000084sv*sd00001216bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000083sv*sd00001326bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000083sv*sd00001226bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000083sv*sd00001306bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000083sv*sd00001206bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000084sv*sd00001315bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000084sv*sd00001215bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000083sv*sd00001325bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000083sv*sd00001225bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000083sv*sd00001305bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000083sv*sd00001205bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000089sv*sd00001316bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000089sv*sd00001311bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000087sv*sd00001326bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000087sv*sd00001321bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000087sv*sd00001306bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000087sv*sd00001301bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000082sv*sd00001221bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000085sv*sd00001211bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00000082sv*sd00001201bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004239sv*sd00001316bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004239sv*sd00001311bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004238sv*sd00001111bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000422Csv*sd00001326bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000422Csv*sd00001321bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000422Csv*sd00001307bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000422Csv*sd00001306bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000422Csv*sd00001301bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000422Bsv*sd00001121bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000422Bsv*sd00001101bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Dsv*sd00001316bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Dsv*sd00001216bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Dsv*sd00001311bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Dsv*sd00001211bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Csv*sd00001321bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Csv*sd00001221bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Csv*sd00001306bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Csv*sd00001206bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Csv*sd00001301bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Csv*sd00001201bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Bsv*sd00001011bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Asv*sd00001021bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d0000423Asv*sd00001001bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004236sv*sd00001114bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004236sv*sd00001014bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004236sv*sd00001111bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004236sv*sd00001011bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004235sv*sd00001104bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004235sv*sd00001004bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004235sv*sd00001101bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004235sv*sd00001001bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004235sv*sd00001124bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004235sv*sd00001024bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004235sv*sd00001121bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004235sv*sd00001021bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004237sv*sd00001316bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004237sv*sd00001216bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004237sv*sd00001315bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004237sv*sd00001215bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004237sv*sd00001314bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004237sv*sd00001214bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004237sv*sd00001311bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004237sv*sd00001211bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001326bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001226bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001325bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001225bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001324bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001224bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001321bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001221bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001306bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001206bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001305bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001205bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001304bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001204bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001301bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004232sv*sd00001201bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004230sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:     pci:v00008086d00004229sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
depends:    iwlcore,cfg80211,mac80211
vermagic:    2.6.35-25-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:      swcrypto50:using crypto in software (default 0 [hardware]) (deprecated) (bool)
parm:      swcrypto:using crypto in software (default 0 [hardware]) (int)
parm:      queues_num50:number of hw queues in 50xx series (deprecated) (int)
parm:      queues_num:number of hw queues. (int)
parm:      11n_disable50:disable 50XX 11n functionality (deprecated) (int)
parm:      11n_disable:disable 11n functionality (int)
parm:      amsdu_size_8K50:enable 8K amsdu size in 50XX series (deprecated) (int)
parm:      amsdu_size_8K:enable 8K amsdu size (int)
parm:      fw_restart50:restart firmware in case of error (deprecated) (int)
parm:      fw_restart:restart firmware in case of error (int)
parm:      disable_hw_scan:disable hardware scanning (default 0) (int)
parm:      ucode_alternative:specify ucode alternative to use from ucode file (int)

[Snowhog]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

Do mainline kernel builds include Ubuntu specific drivers?

By definition the mainline kernel builds are made from virgin unaltered mainline kernel sources and therefore do not, and should not, include any Ubuntu patches or drivers. There are also no binary drivers for these kernels.

[SteveRiley]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

Steve, I dunno if you can tease the answer out of this -- maybe: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile

mainline kernel builds are made from virgin unaltered mainline kernel sources and therefore do not, and should not, include any Ubuntu patches or drivers. There are also no binary drivers for these kernels.

Guess I'll have to examine the details more closely. I was hoping there'd be a simple list of "Ubuntu modifications and extras" or something similar...

[woodsmoke]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

GG when you posted about tweaking your Kernels I thought...

AT LAST....something that GG does the I might understand!!!

But no....

what I was thinking about was....



You guys are so smart!!

woodpoppingmyownkernelssmoke

[blackpaw]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

I'd be tempted to install the 3.1 kernel RC if it finally enabled successful hibernate and sleep for my desktop .... but without knowing that I think I'll skip it of now

[The Liquidator]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

Just like to say that with so many open source packages and the big community, why is it so that there are few updates? Ubuntu/Kubuntu 11.10 has been the level with the least amount of patches and updates I've noticed in years. There simply seems to be little happening.

Some example of slow releases is Wine and FGLRX ATI drivers. Still now drivers or wine even though the official versions where out a while ago.

Anyone like to comment? ..

If you stick with the authorised repositories, updates will have a tendency to be either bug-fix or security focussed. If you want to get new releases asap after the authors release them then you need to enable the appropriate ppas as a source.

[OneLine]

Re: Updates, where are they? A sign of times?

Ubuntu updates policy

• https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates

Kubuntu updates policy

• New Kubuntu/KDE Policy - http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3114622.0
• KDE 4.7.3 - http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3119191.0
• KDE 4.7.3 - http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3119501.0
• KDE 4.8 - http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3119503.0

Kernel up

• http://askubuntu.com/questions/72714/how-can-i-upgrade-kernel-to-3-1/

Kernel down

• http://askubuntu.com/questions/71139/how-to-downgrade-the-kernel-on-11-10/