Inform the users when their kernels become unsupported

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#843 3 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Assessment

Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Newbie friendliness
35/100
Issue type
Feature
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Stale
Tech stack
linux, python
Domain
operating-systems

Research direction

No source files or tests are named. Start by examining the kernel manager and update manager behavior described in the report, including how unsupported kernels are detected and displayed. Done should include a warning for users running unsupported kernels, an explained upgrade path where possible, and reassurance about future non-LTS kernel updates.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

BUG

Describe the bug
Until a few months ago, kernel 6.1 was shown as supported until 2027 in the kernel manager. Today I noticed it's unsupported. The problem is mintUpdate didn't notify me of this, and no longer offers updates for it. As my hardware is new enough that I can't use older kernels, this is bad.

Kernel 6.2 is now available in the kernel manager, but only supported until February 2024, so that's not a great alternative, but literally the only one available.

Screenshots

  • this April (shown on top, in bold):
    Update Manager - kernel update 2023-04-21

  • today:
    kernel-unsupported-2023-09-08

Expected behavior
mintUpdate should warn the users when unsupported kernels are in use. Even better, an upgrade path should be offered in the update manager, along with an explanation about what happened. And if upgrading to a non-LTS kernel, at least reassure the users that newer kernels will be available.

Considering I can only go with newer kernels for my hardware, the prospect of being unable to get kernel updates with the latest Linux Mint in just a few months is not great.

Distribution: Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon

Software version: 6.0.3

Dominant language
Python
Stars
425
Forks
190
No merged PRs in 30d

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