Kernel security updates? [SOLVED]
 

First some background info:
I'm new to Slackware but not new to Linux. Been running Mandrake/Mandriva for eight years and am probably too set in my ways. :^)

Just for fun, I've been installing different distros on a 1994 vintage 486 with 83MHz Pentium Overdrive and 64MB just to see if the 2.6 kernel is still viable on such old hardware. I'm pleased to report that Slackware 12.0 is the only one that made the cut.

Installation was easy and slackpkg works a treat. The system boots and runs fast. Many other distros insist on utilizing udev, hal, dbus and other userland daemons that bog down this old hardware but Slackware still allows devices to be handled the simple way. I also think that "i586" distros secretly compile software with MMX and i686 flags that can confuse really old Pentiums. Slack will definitely stay on this box and get installed on others. :D

Now to the questions:
I'm currently running the huge.s kernel which is obviously consuming too much precious memory. Rather than install the "generic" kernel from the Slackware CD, I decided to grab the latest kernel from slackware-12.0/patches because of the well-known "vmsplice" potential exploit plus I reckoned there may be some bugs fixes since the initial release. I was amazed to not find any updated kernel packages in slackware-12.0/patches.

1. Is there an updated kernel package (and source) available for 12.0 stable?

1a. If there is no such thing, is it OK to just grab kernel.org source and do "make oldconfig", etcetera against the Slackware 12.0 generic config?
(Yes I know, that will probably take two weeks.) :^)

With Mandriva, the policy is to patch the inital release kernel for updates rather than use the latest kernel sublevel which may cause regressions.

2. What is Slackware's policy regarding kernel security and bugfix updates?

Thanks in advance for any help and for the great distribution. :)

Hmm, I was using ftp://slackware.mirrors.pair.com thinking with a name like that, its got to be fresh. Bzzzzzt!

Thanks and sorry for the noise.

PS: Would like a short list of mirrors not on the slackware domain that tend to be freshest.

See the "Get Slack" link on slackware.com for a list of official mirrors.

Wouldn't you know, that stale mirror is in the list. :)

Found a fresh one which is also closer to home.

Marking as SOLVED. Thanks!

My favourite mirror is the other official Slackware mirror ( http://slackware.osuosl.org/slackwar...ches/packages/ ), which is mentioned in the security mailing list. It's always up-to-date and fast. ;)