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hagbard_c • today at 6:07 PM • 2 replies • view on HN

Not a serious question but I'll give a serious answer anyway.

The last time I worried over which kernel was used in Debian Stable was... never. If I want a more recent kernel I run Debian unstable (Sid) which currently is at 7.0.12 (the current 'stable' kernel where 7.1 is 'mainline') but on my servers Stable (currently 'Trixie') does just fine with its 6.17.3 kernel. Debian 'Forky' will be released somewhere in 2027 with either a 7.0.x or 7.1.x kernel depending on how things go. The current kernel used in 'testing' (which will become 'stable' on the next release) is 7.0.10.

Replies

waych • today at 6:34 PM

People don't usually understand that apt allows you to configure multiple sources across versions simultaneously, so you can e.g. run stable, but also selectively install from backports or unstable.

To do so, add the sources for trixie-backports and unstable, and add the following configuration (e.g. /etc/apt/preferences.d/trixie-sid-pin) so that the system knows which sources your prefer:

   # Default to trixie
   Package: *
   Pin: release n=trixie
   Pin-Priority: 990
   
   # Very low priority for sid
   Package: *
   Pin: release n=unstable
   Pin-Priority: 100
   
   # Give backports medium priority
   Package: *
   Pin: release n=trixie-backports
   Pin-Priority: 500
Now the system can access the latest kernel from unstable (and backports), while keeping everything else on stable:

   # apt policy linux-image-amd64
   linux-image-amd64:
     Installed: 7.0.12-1
     Candidate: 7.0.12-2
     Version table:
        7.0.12-2 500
           500 http://deb.debian.org/debian unstable/main amd64 Packages
    *** 7.0.12-1 100
           100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
        7.0.10-1~bpo13+1 500
           500 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie-backports/main amd64 Packages
        6.12.90-2 500
           500 http://security.debian.org/debian-security trixie-security/main amd64 Packages
        6.12.86-1 990
           990 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 Packages
I believe the kernel in backports gets updated only after it is live in unstable for at least a week, which lately still feels like forever.
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yjftsjthsd-h • today at 8:30 PM

> The last time I worried over which kernel was used in Debian Stable was... never.

It was briefly a little annoying to deal with wireguard. But it was only a bit annoying, and then they updated. That's the only time I recall specifically caring.

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