kernel and apps issues

I might have other questions down the road.

You can have as many kernels as you want. Currently I have seven kernels available without noticing any problem. Obviously you can run only one kernel at a time :)

Did you uninstall i386 kernel completely?

Yes I did. Should I reinstall it? Do I need to?

If you really need it, go ahead. Otherwise it is not worth the pain.

Hmm! The system is running just fine the way it is, so I believe I will let the 386 kernel slide for the time being. Is there any way to tell the upgrader not to show it as well as the PCMCIA upgrade I don't need? This is also one of the apps I wish to uninstall, but removal process wants to take my ubuntu-desktop with it.

See ubuntu-desktop package description: http://packages.ubuntu.com/dapper/base/ubuntu-desktop

Well I guess that answers my other question. I suppose for now I can only hide the apps I don't want. Hopefully one of these days the developers will be able to allow the uninstall of apps we don't want, and the updater to show only updates for installed apps prefered per user.
 Thanks Luca for your time. It's very appreciated.

If you want to ignore a few package in Synaptic, you can focus it and select Package -> Block version. It won't be upgraded.

If you remove the linux-386, linux-image-386, and linux-restricted-modules-386 packages it will no longer download updates for the 386 kernel every time a new one is released. It's handy to keep a 386 kernel on your system but not necessary to update it all the time if you routinely used the K7 kernel.

I presume there's a linux-k7 package. If it is there, make sure it's installed because it enables kernel updates for that kernel.

It's planned to fix both of these problems in the next release so you'll not have to worry about it.

You can always remove the ubuntu-desktop package, as long as you remember to reinstall it before upgrading.

Hey that sounds great. I believe I can hang till the next release. In
the mean time I have removed the unwanted apps from view. Thanks for the
input.

Dean Sas wrote:
> Support request #1508 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+ticket/1508
>
> Comment:
> It's planned to fix both of these problems in the next release so you'll not have to worry about it.
>
> You can always remove the ubuntu-desktop package, as long as you remember to reinstall it before upgrading.
>
>

Hmm! This is the confusing part for me. I'm a noob to Linux, so I don't
fully understand the concept. You say it's handy to have the 386 kernel
installed along with the K7 kernel. This only raises more questions for
me. Why should I need more than one, and how would I know which kernel
the box is running on? My understanding was the 386 kernel is a
universal default installation that works with most all CPU's, but is
mainly for the older model computers before XP Athlons and P4
processors. It seems to me it would only make since to run an AMD XP2400
with the AMD K7 kernel for better performance. Am I assuming this is
correct, or just ill informed? If certain apps require the 386 kernel,
how do I find out which apps those are?

 Forgive me for my ignorance. I hope to understand more as time rolls
on. I really dislike MS Windows for the way the corporation treats it's
end users, but at the same time they have spoiled us over the years with
convenience. That convenience has created a lot of problems which forces
one to keep finding better software to stay secure, and better (more
expensive) hardware to keep up with their glutinous software. Their WGA
spyware program was the final straw for me.

Jeremy Visser wrote:
> Support request #1508 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+ticket/1508
>
> Comment:
> If you remove the linux-386, linux-image-386, and linux-restricted-modules-386 packages it will no longer download updates for the 386 kernel every time a new one is released. It's handy to keep a 386 kernel on your system but not necessary to update it all the time if you routinely used the K7 kernel.
>
> I presume there's a linux-k7 package. If it is there, make sure it's installed because it enables kernel updates for that kernel.
>
>

You don't need more than one installed. The differences are that i386 version has a few more drivers for some old hardware and the k7 etc versions are supposedly marginally faster on the relevant hardware. Recently the kernel has started detecting and running these optimisations while it's running, rather than when it's compiled.

You can find out which kernel you are running by typing uname -srv in a command prompt

Ah, very good. My box is running fine with only the K7 kernel, so I
believe I will let the 368 go. The only odd thing I have noticed is the
time it takes for some web pages to load. Some pop right up and others
including links from within the fast ones drag on and on before they
open. I have IPV6 disabled as well as some of the other tweaks in
firefox, but it does not help in many cases. Opera is the same way. It's
almost like stepping backwards to dialup again, only worse in some cases.

Dean Sas wrote:
> Support request #1508 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+ticket/1508
>
> Comment:
> You don't need more than one installed. The differences are that i386 version has a few more drivers for some old hardware and the k7 etc versions are supposedly marginally faster on the relevant hardware. Recently the kernel has started detecting and running these optimisations while it's running, rather than when it's compiled.
>
> You can find out which kernel you are running by typing uname -srv in a command prompt
>
>