Hi
On Windows or OSX I always reboot after every application install. Is this necessary or recommended in Linux as well?

I normally only bother if the kernel has been altered and have noticed some video card upgrades can mess with some applications. Other than that all applications work fine but some may not use the newer version until you upgrade or restart a service.

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+1 - Generally only after kernel or major library updates or if it's a security/vulnerability update.

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NOPE! that is what is better then Windows, where it takes a day or a week (exaggeration to an extent) to finally get done with an upgrade that you did not even authorize. Then you still have to reboot Windows and wait again for an extended period of time for it to finalize before Windows finally lets you back in so you can do whatever you please.

When Linux apps are updated, if you are running one that has been updated. all You have to do it shut it down and restart it so its upgrades will take effect. Not having to bring down your entire system in the process. Just restart services, or close your web browser and restart it. the upgrades are now in effect.

and they are only done when you tell it to, not when the manufacturer hard codes it into the system to do.

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No it is not necessary to reboot after each application installed.

This is where Linux filesystems are so much more efficient. In Windows, you have to reboot after updates because software files (especially libraries) can't be replaced while something is using them.

In Linux, programs that are using a library have a private link to it. When a file is deleted in order to be replaced by a new version, the name is deleted but the content of the file is not unless no one is actually using it. As long as it is in use, that file continues to exist for the benefit of anything that is already linked to it. However newly started programs use the filename to find the file, so they link to the new version. Both versions exist side by side until you shut down.

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Agreed.
Any currently running process, or currently running library, which is updated should, then, be restarted in order that the changes take effect (so if you don't ned the changes yet, don't bother). To me this usually means restarting applications when I see an update and restarting completely, eventually, when it's conmvenient, when I see a library update and always restarting for kernel or driver updates just so that I can spot problems early.

If you want to be sure the system will work when you leave. ALWAYS check it before you go. That is my advice. If you work in tech and you walk away from an issue or drive miles away it would look pretty bad if you had to go back and make sure it is fixed under any normal condition. Power down is a normal condition.

I don't care what OS you have. If you want to be sure, test it.

If it doesn't matter then don't.

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wouldn't that go for mostly or just a kernel update in Linux, as with most is not all other software can be restarted without shutting down and restarting the entire system (to be sure it still works)?

and I vaguely remember reading somewhere where someone knew how to reload the kernel without even having to reboot the Linux system.

+1 (or more)

It's particularly annoying to find out the system you worked on but didn't test fails to reboot, and you're on a plane half way between New York and L.A. heading home. And a very expensive oversight if you have to turn around and fly back to fix it

The reason you have to reboot after updates and some installs in Windows is because of that ginormous kludge, the Windows registry. Some programs must needs be write information to the registry that can be written only during shutdown or boot-up while the registry is not in use. AV programs generally fall into that category.

I generally reboot my Linux machines after a kernel update. Rarely, I might reboot one to clear out the dustbunnies if it's been up for several weeks and appears to be lagging a bit.

I've used MacOS but only on someone else's computer as a volunteer for an organization, so I don't have any experience installing software on Macs.

The windows registry is no more a kludge than /etc in linux. The problem is the registry is proprietary and there is little documentation (although little useful documentation is a built-in linux feature). Testing a system after making changes is not a windows or linux or DEC or IBM or Sun oir Mac thing, it's just one of the things you do if you are in the business of servicing computer systems.

I call the registry a kludge because it's monolithic, well nigh impenetrable, and almost impossible for average user to fix or maintain. In contrast, if one mucks up a text file in /etc, one can rather easily fix it. I know that because I've mucked up my share of text files in /etc. /etc may be untidy, but I would not equate "untidy" with "kludge."

Just my two cents.

Be that as it may (and declining a nice morning's round of Windows-bashing ...), I agree with Jefro. Power-down the thing and make damn sure that it comes up and that everything is working again. Because, even though power supplies are fairly reliable, it's still possible for your system to go down when you l...

I tend to avoid reboots in linux. If the kernel updates, sure, but be sure to rebuild any driver oddities before you do. Like non-distro supplied wifi drivers, or proprietary video drivers. For some things a reboot is the easier answer. Like when there's updates to X, desktop, or window manager environment. Most applications are not those, although sometimes updates to udev or dbus are best handled with a reboot. Like using jackdbus and you unplugged your usb soundcard for a second. Or the powered hub it was plugged into lost power (cat problems). Plus other oddities with systemd that are easier to solve with a reboot. Where you could otherwise avoid that practice with other init systems.