14 DAY TRIAL // Not even a day after the release of the Linux 4.15 kernel, Linux Lite creator Jerry Bezencon managed, once again, to be the first to deploy the new kernel series for all users of his Ubuntu-based operating system.
Linux kernel 4.15 was released the other day, on January 28, 2018, as the first series to include out-of-the-box patches for the Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities, among numerous other new features and improvements, and Linux Lite users can install it on their 64-bit or 32-bit machines running either series 2.x (Beryl) or series 3.x (Citrine) of the open-source operating system, but with a warning.
"If you use proprietary drivers, this kernel may break functionality with those drivers. If you have proprietary drivers installed and you still decide to go ahead with this kernel install, you should be competent in repairing your drivers. If you aren't, DO NOT install this kernel," says the developer, who urged users to install this kernel only if they need it or if they're able to fix any issue from a TTY.
Here's how to install Linux kernel 4.15 on Linux Lite
If you decide to install the Linux 4.15 kernel on your Linux Lite computer, you can do that with a simple command, which you'll have to run in a terminal emulator. However, before anything else, make sure you have a recent backup of your most important files. Once you've done that, install Linux kernel 4.15 with the following set of commands.
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install linux-headers-linuxlite-4.15.0 linux-image-linuxlite-4.15.0 -y
Once the new kernel packages have been successfully installed, you will need to reboot your Linux Lite machine for the new version to take effect. When you get back, check to see if your Linux Lite system is running Linux kernel 4.15 with the "uname -a" command, and you should also use the automated script created by Jerry Bezencon to see if your PC is vulnerable to Meltdown and Spectre attacks.