Kernel - Default or Desktop ?

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Is there a description of the features and differences between the Desktop and Default kernels?

Did “Desktop” arrive with 11.2 and 2.6.31 ?

I did not notice it at first. I loaded 11.2 on a desktop machine and both default and desktop kernels were loaded to system, with Desktop set as default in grub.

I have been working thru several “strange” behaviors ever since loading 11.2.

At the top of my list has been the ability to shutdown the system from remote logins. I normally connect to the system via a Xwindows package (Xmanager). X works fine and I could shutdown via the GUI (Application Launcher - Leave-Shutdown). When connected via a remote ssh link, either from a windows machine or a different linux machine, attempts to shutdown (shutdown -H now) send the expected messages, close the remote connections but leave the system still powered on but in a no-remote-connectivity state.

When I upgraded to KDE 4.3.4 following the Forum Repository guidelines, I could no longer shutdown via the GUI. In searching about, I found that the Desktop kernel was running. Changed grub, rebooted under default, shutdown under GUI works again.

So, for starters, I am trying to decide which kernel environment (default or desktop) should be my target for continuing to work thru issues.

2

I’m guessing but I doubt that those kinds of bugs are affected by the two choices mentioned. AFAIK desktop and default simply have different tweaks for the workload, I would guess that desktop gives priority to interactive response.

But what I do when I shutdown remote is this:

shutdown -fh now < /dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1 &

This ensures that shutdown doesn’t hold onto any file descriptors provided by ssh.

3

Thank you, Ken, the command

shutdown -fh now < /dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1 &

Works for an ssh connection.
It only works for root user (via su).
The GUI allows a regular user to shut down.
Is there a configuration somewhere, that affects ssh privileges?

4

What you can do over ssh is exactly what you can do at a terminal with that login. There is nothing magical about ssh. If you want to allow ordinary users to shutdown from the CLI, look into sudo.