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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Do new patches that are incorporated in the "stable tree" of older kernel versions make it back into the distros? (kbin.social)

submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hi! This is a bit of a newbie question, so please bear with me.

I purchased a laptop that has a specific hardware issue under Linux (the keyboard does not function). A patch fixing the issue was approved for 6.8 and incorporated in the "stable tree" of older kernels: 5.4, 5.10, 5.15, 6.6, 6.7, etc.

My question is: Do distros ship with an updated kernel that incorporates all the patches? Or does the user need to update after installation for the patches to be applied? I imagine that it may perhaps vary from distro to distro, but I honestly don't know.

The question is relevant for me because, potentially, I would have to install the actual distro and update, rather than just try out a live version.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Red Hat and Debian both backport security fixes but don't backport things like laptop device support. It can take a year or more for versions of those distros to gain the kind of functionality that is looking for.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They don't Backport them but they do incorporate them if they are already part of the upstream LTS kernel used by that distro.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Have LTS kernels started backporting non security fixes like this? To be fair I haven't looked at this in over a decade but this kind of patch wouldn't have been backported then.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Well, OP explicitly states that the patch for their issue has been incorporated into the stable trees for various older kernels.