Kernel version 4.x.x Poll
 

I used to "upgrade" almost everything all the time until I realized it was at least a bit of a Windows habit. Additionally while it took either considerable research or time-consuming trial and error I discovered that it was not at all uncommon for BIOS updates to "back off" from the high performance of early releases in the interest of the lowest common denominator. "New" doesn't always equal "Improved".

To get to the specifics of this thread while I always compile a custom kernel from source I don't habitually go to the latest anymore unless I see a clear reason to do so, usually support for some new or oddball hardware, though admittedly I sometimes will on a whim hoping for some improvement in some general support like the ALSA system.

Currently I am running Slackware v14.0 32 bit with a custom low-latency, realtime kernel version 3.12.0.

Since v 3.x.x supports hardware considerably newer than I have by about 3 - 4 years I've seen no compelling reason to move to v. 4.x.x

I'd like to poll members here as to whether you have moved to 4.x.x yet or expect to soon and what you expect it will do for you. Comments from those who have done so on your experiences, pleasurable or otherwise are welcome.

1 - I have not yet moved to 4.x.x kernel

2 - I had to move to 4.x.x for specific new hardware support

3 - I chose to move to 4.x.x as a matter of general upgrade policy

4 - If you choose #3 are you glad you did? (ie: noticeable specific improvement)

PS: If this doesn't post correctly as a Poll my apologies as I did use the Forum "Search" 4 times for keywords involving Poll and got no results (I'm a poll Virgin) and I fully expect to read every response so please do what you can or find reasonable so I and anyone interested can arrive at some useful statistics.

I selected 1 & 2. I have two computers running Slackware, one is an older desktop (almost 8 years old now), and the other is a htpc running an AMD 5350 APU. The desktop is running a custom 3.18.8 kernel and a heavily modified x/mesa stack so I could enable h264 playback acceleration that was implemented in 3.18 and mesa 10.4. I have no intention on upgrading this further (with the exception of a new Slackware release) unless there are new features introduced that pique my interest.

With my htpc, I had to run a newer system due to hardware incompatibilities with 14.1. That is happily running -current (before the last big update) and I'll probably leave it that way until 14.2 is released. Most of the time, I tend to not mess with a system once it is working as I want it unless there is a solid reason for me to change.

I used to try out new kernels all the time and upgrade random software all the time, but that has since lost it's allure (just like my heavy modding with Android). I don't like rebooting my computer for kernel upgrades since both are networked and provide services to the outside, and I don't feel like taking the time to recompile programs (and possibly introduce bugs into my system) unless there is a solid reason for it (kodi on my htpc does get upgraded semi-frequently, but I no longer run nightlies like I used to).

I had to move to a new kernel for old hardware support.

The kernel in current was not happy with my old radeon video card, and 4.2.5 had this noted in it's change log as a fix.

Once I started kernel configuring due to this I rediscovered the joy of reading and searching for the meaning of many new options.

This 4 series is big. And it takes a long time for my box to compile it.

I have a home server running 14.0 which I'm two lazy/afraid to upgrade. It's working perfectly and has months of uptime.

My two laptops are both on 4.x kernels and also working fine, so no real complaints.

keep in mind that the dividing line between the 3.x kernel and the 4.x is completely arbitrary,
4.3 could just as well have been called 3.23 (or 2.6.63)

To confirm what nivieru just wrote, from 4.0 announcement on LKML:

I updated, but as far as improvements, I only saw a few speed helps, but overall, it's okay.

Weird. As of this moment 461 reads and around 40 poll answers. Does this likely mean people running other distros are either checking out Slack or assuming it is a Slack Only poll? Comments on how we may get more results appreciated.

Maybe ask a moderator to move this thread to Linux - General if you want answers from people using other distributions

However the way your initial post is worded could make people think that you are only targeting Slackware users.

Also do you expect answers only from users running a distribution/version that does not yet include a kernel version 4.x.x? This is unclear to me.

Personally I didn't vote because I fail to see what the answers to this poll could bring or teach me, see my previous answer.

I use Debian and Buntu and I had to upgrade so one of my laptops would run right. It has an AMD A-10 and it would freeze on booting with a 3.16 kernel. Anything 4.2.5 and above works very well...

I check all recent posts regardless of where they are posted. Pays not to be too parochial.

I selected #3, because the 4.x series features a number of improvements, none of which relate specifically to my hardware (For the record, my hardware has run well with all kernels that I've tried thus far):

• Assembly language that no one can make sense of being replaced with C
• A number of ciphers built into the kernel
• Sound system code is being reorganized
• Better randomization support for AMD Bulldozer (Piledriver?). Primarily of interest to me since I have an AMD CPU
• General Random Number Generator Improvements
• EXT3 code removed from 4.3.x series
• General curiosity

In addition, I have modified my kernels with patches that improve desktop and I/O performance. I was able to modify the patches from the Arch website regarding the last Catalyst driver release to work with the latest Crimson Edition release so that it can work with the 4.3.x series of kernels.

As a side note, poll selections are supposed to be totally independent of each other; #4 cannot be related to #3, for example. Since you said you were a poll virgin, I think that you should have at least a heads-up about this issue.

I choose "2" But it has not been quite a complete success.

I use a variety of TV tuner cards for ATSC and cable. I wanted to move to the Hauppauge HVR-2255 PCI-e tuner, which has SAA7164 driver support starting with kernel 4.2.

But after compiling and installing 4.2.3 I discovered the new HVR-2255 compatible SAA7164 driver does not include analog support for this card, for output from settop boxes and DTAs. This support is still awaiting developments upstream. OK, no problem.

I thought to continue using some older Hauppauge HVR-1600 cards (which I've used for years) with the cx18 driver for analog support on slack-current. But I discovered after some experimentation with 3 different HVR-1600 cards on 3 machines with a number of stock and locally compiled 4.x.x kernel versions, that kernel 4.x.x appears to break analog compatibility in the cx18 driver. ATSC is unaffected.

So now I keep one machine running otherwise up-to-date slack-current, but on kernel 3.18.2 to support analog reception on a HVR-1600 card with the cx18 driver. My other TV machines run slack-current, but with 4.2.x kernels. I haven't noticed any other issues with the 4.x.x kernels.

Please don't include all of us in your reply. Not all of us think that every poll needs to "bring or teach" anything. Simple curiosity can be as instructive as something that challenges us. As a case in point, I patched the AMD Crimson Edition driver to work with the 4.3.0 kernel (which I'm running). I learned something yesterday, and I was brought new knowledge. I answered because the OP would like to know why others make their choices. This poll is not as useless as you seem to think, in this case.

"Personally" made clear enough that I spoke only on behalf of myself. Or did I miss something?