Latest Kernel on Leap?

English Install/Boot/Login
1

I need stable packages for everything except the kernel which I need to be the latest version at all times (currently 4.5).

Will it be tenable and realistic to run the latest linux kernel on Leap, and expect to run it for the whole duration of Leap’s lifetime?

Has anyone been doing this with Leap or earlier versions 13.2, 13.1, etc. with success (or failure)?

I see mixed results in other distributions, such as people successfully using 4.4 on CentOS, while failures with some Debian stable xorg packages being incompatible with 4.0+.

Along the same lines, can someone tell me the release plan for kernel updates on Leap? I see it currently uses 4.1. Will Leap 42.2 receive a kernel update or will it still be 4.1?

2

I believe during the announcement of LEAP, it was announced that LEAP would be released with the newest version of the LTS kernel. My guess is that it will be 4.4, but maybe an openSUSE developer can clarify on this.

Bo

3

Would expect

https://build.opensuse.org/package/show/Kernel:stable/kernel-default

To work out fine on LEAP as well. But haven’t tested, maybe somebody else can provide results.

Bo

4

Kernel 4.1 is LTS:
https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html

5

Should be no problem.

Has anyone been doing this with Leap or earlier versions 13.2, 13.1, etc. with success (or failure)?

I’m sure there are people that did.
I never had the need to though.

I see mixed results in other distributions, such as people successfully using 4.4 on CentOS, while failures with some Debian stable xorg packages being incompatible with 4.0+.

Well, it probably depends on the exact versions of Xorg/drivers involved, and of course it depends whether you need third party kernel modules (but that’s rather independent of the distribution).

Along the same lines, can someone tell me the release plan for kernel updates on Leap? I see it currently uses 4.1. Will Leap 42.2 receive a kernel update or will it still be 4.1?

Leap 42.1 will stay at 4.1.x for its life-time, but Leap 42.2 will get a newer one.
As somebody mentioned already, 4.4 is one of the possible options. I don’t know if that’s decided yet, though.

6

I run Leap 42 with Kernel 4.5.x with no issues. It’s totally unnecessary for me but I’m just strange that way. It probably depends on your hardware to a certain extent so I can’t guarantee it would work for everyone.
I’ve rarely had a problem updating particularly since sticking with nouveau rather than nvidia. I do know it can also affect your wifi but on the rare occasion it has I’ve found a fix on google.

7

Thanks for the helpful answers. I figure if Leap follows roughly the latest LTS instead of locking down on 4.1, then compared to other stable distros (CentOs, Debian) there will be less of a gap between the chosen stable kernel and the latest kernel, particular near end of lifetime, thus less potential for surprises (software anyway). If it works out that way, Leap might be the best option for stable suite + latest kernel. (Only Ubuntu LTS might be similar, but not an option)