Automatic removal of old kernel

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Automatic removal of old kernel

Postby pmithrandir » Mar 3rd, '13, 13:50

Hello,

I migrate on mageia since the first beta from mandriva.
It's been a long time, and my system still works great.

But, there is a price, every 6 month, I have to go to the package manager, and to remove the old kernel that are stored forever here...

Do you think it would be possible to remove them automatically ?
For example, for each kernel, we could say that the previous one is mandatory as a backup, but that the previous one would be setup as not compatible... and automatically removed... Or in a more simpler way, to remove the old kernel as soon as the new one is installed.

Linux is pretty stable now, and I don't understand why we keep all these old artifact.

Thanks,
Pierre
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Re: Automatic removal of old kernel

Postby doktor5000 » Mar 3rd, '13, 17:25

Well, those older kernels do no harm, it's not a must to remove them. Why do you have to clean up every 6 months?
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Re: Automatic removal of old kernel

Postby pmithrandir » Mar 3rd, '13, 17:52

Hi,

I have different reason to remove them.

First, the place they take... 30MB is not much, but I have only 2.5GB free on my disk, so it's not much... and 10 kernel are representing 10% of my total free space.
Second of all, I did the installation the old way, with a specific /boot partition, so it's happen to be full sometime...

And also, I don't like to have a long grub menu when I start my computer... it's not very nice and transform the computer is something more geeky than it should be.

Start mageia is understandable.
Start mageia with kernel 3.4.456 is something not very nice on my point of view(and something that can afraid normal user).

On this point, it could be nicer, if it's possible, to create submenu in grub with all these old kernel.

What do you think ?
Pierre
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Re: Automatic removal of old kernel

Postby doktor5000 » Mar 4th, '13, 21:11

Well, i think that discussing this here already wasted more time than it would take to run the removal twice a year, no?

If you think this should be implemented, report this as a feature request: https://wiki.mageia.org/en/How_to_report_a_bug_properly
Preferably with a patch and be prepared to discuss this also on the mageia-dev mailing list.

Actually i don't like the idea, e.g. at work the client we use always replaces the currently running kernel with a new one,
so i'd like it better if there are more alternatives. Some kernel problems only show up in cornercase situations, and during
longtime use, so i'd prefer to keep some older kernels.
But i don't complain about it and just remove the old ones also every 4-5 months or so - takes a minute, and is a no pain no-brainer.
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Re: Automatic removal of old kernel

Postby pmithrandir » Mar 5th, '13, 12:26

I will report it as a feature request. I don't think i know how to do the patch altough.

regarding the first sentence, In think this is exactly what mageia lacks to be user friendly. It's not normal to display old kernel to the user fce.
To keep one or 2 as a backup, it's ok. To put them in front of the customers eyes, it's just mean that you are unsure of your system. And if you, as a creator is unsure, why the user should trust it ?

Also, the only question the user ask himself when he run the kernel is : Does it run or not. After, if there is bugs, it's another question. the kernel works if you can arrive safely to KDE and use your mouse, keyboard and network. The rest is just bug report and an update few weeks later.
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Re: Automatic removal of old kernel

Postby pmithrandir » Mar 5th, '13, 12:41

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