Does antiX automatically update the Linux kernel when using < sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade > or is it necessary to check the Synaptic Package Manager from time to time to see if a new kernel version is available?

Is there any place where a message indicating the availability of new versions appropriate for antiX is published (as well as the advisability of such installation)?

I just manually updated my installation to version 4.6.2 and everything works fine, just as it did before but it was just a matter of coincidence that I discovered the availability of this new Linux kernel version.

Any help and/or information will be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Has to be done manually. You can use the meta-package-installer to fing later kernels.

Thank you. I do not know how to use the meta-package-installer nor where to find it. And I would not know how to find new kernels using it. Can you please help me? Thank you again very much. (If instructions are in the 'Help' section on the desktop, would you please tell me just where those instructions can be found?)

I just found the location of the meta-package-installer using the Search function here and seeing an answer as to how to find it.

I have not yet tried this installer but I will do so today and I'll see if I'm able to find newer kernels.

I'm sorry I didn't look this up first before asking you where to find the installer and I apologize for that.

But I do thank you for pointing me in that direction.

Pictures say a thousand words.

Indeed pictures do! However, prior to reading your message, I had already found the metapackage-installer, found the newest kernel (4.6.2), and installed it. (I had previously installed this kernel on another machine on which I am using antiX; in that case, I found the new kernel 'by accident' in the Synaptic Package Manager. This way - the metapackage-installer - is much easier.)

I still needed to go into Synaptic to uninstall the previous Linux-header and Linux-image which now serve no purpose.

I do wish there were some 'automatic' way for updating the kernel rather than having the necessity of checking the metapackage-installer or Synaptic. Perhaps that will come someday ...

In the mean time, thank you very much for your excellent response which, I'm sure, will be of great help to anyone else reading this thread.

Personally I don't think an automatic way to update the kernel is a good idea. Except for security purposes.

Enjoy antiX!

I well remember seeing people being advised to use older Kernels as newer ones would not work with their computers.

To Shay,

I suppose having problems with newer kernel versions may occur with some computers but it seems to me that this would not happen often (and, if it did, it's easy to roll back to an earlier version). If automatically updating the kernel were made standard, the antiX developers could wait until they were sure that there would be minimal, if any, problems with a newer LTS kernel.

And I must comment to anticapitalista - security is the primary reason I would like to see automatic kernel updates but, as you are the main person here, I defer to your judgment.

Could a notice of the availability of new kernel versions be put on the main antiX page (in the News section) just to let us know of the availability? I think that that would be helpful.

In any case, thanks very much for your replies to me anticapitalista and for clarifying your opinion. Thanks also to you Shay as well as others who have written to me. I find this forum to be one of the very best and most helpful forums there is!

lhb1142 wrote:To Shay,

I suppose having problems with newer kernel versions may occur with some computers but it seems to me that this would not happen often (and, if it did, it's easy to roll back to an earlier version). If automatically updating the kernel were made standard, the antiX developers could wait until they were sure that there would be minimal, if any, problems with a newer LTS kernel.

If I have to use a older kernel, that auto update would kill me.

Shay wrote:

lhb1142 wrote:To Shay,

I suppose having problems with newer kernel versions may occur with some computers but it seems to me that this would not happen often (and, if it did, it's easy to roll back to an earlier version). If automatically updating the kernel were made standard, the antiX developers could wait until they were sure that there would be minimal, if any, problems with a newer LTS kernel.

If I have to use a older kernel, that auto update would kill me.

I truly hope that such an auto update would not"kill" you! In any event, when updating, the program could (and should) offer the option of accepting or rejecting such an update (just for the kernel). Also, I believe that it would be relatively easy (as it is now) to revert to an older kernel. Even now, with manual updating of the kernel, there is no way to tell, when you do update to a newer kernel, whether or not the computer will continue to function properly for you.

I still feel that the security advantages of an auto updated kernel outweigh the disadvantages - but my opinion is a moot point as anticapitalist is in charge and he does not want auto updating of the kernel.

I would still like to have some official notification of the availability of new kernels for antiX rather than the current method of searching just when the mood strikes you.

when updating, the program could (and should) offer the option of

updating == retrieving a manifest of available packages

during apt upgrade (or dist-upgrade),"the program" is the apt/dpkg mechanism.
It's up to the"package maintainer" of the kernel package(s) to include (or not) pre- and post-install special-handling instructions.
It's been a while & I can't recall: is dpkg kernel replacement fully automated, and silent?
Prior to the kernel replacement actually occurring, doesn't an inline prompt appear, asking user input?