Recently we upgraded to 12.04 from 11.10, kubuntu 32 bit. And lost google-earth in the process (OS freezes). There's a bug report on it but its not fixed yet. So to make things a bit easier why not retain a coupla previous kernels within the repositories? That way what worked prior to updates/upgrades will probably work again (if it happens to be a kernel issue like this one).

One may require some type of "Regress" checkbox within the package maintainers (synaptic, muon, whatever)... or a new source list could be implemented to make the prior kernel(s) available.

Of course would not normally regress unless a specific app critical to normal usage went bust from a subsequent kernel update (such as was my (and many others) situation).

Why would someone want to do this?

Libranet, an old defunct distro had a tool that
a) downloaded the latest kernel source
b) AUTOMATICALLY opened up a qt config menu
c) COMPILED YOUR CHANGES AUTOMATICALLY, never an error, crash free, error free, and totally reliable.

Ubuntu is incomplete without such a tweaking and tuning tool. Kernelcheck is obviously not as good as that. One that works with the OS and not hits it over the head like Kernelcheck is needed. One that automagically configures ALL drivers automatically and not hoses your installation would be greatly appreciated. It made Libranet THE ONE AND ONLY distinguished distro that had that, it was based on Debian to boot! (pun intended).

bodycode

A modified Kernel favors the functioning of the operating system, but to do it well it is not simple, there are many options that are not known for the majority of the users, and to have to go looking for one for one in Internet it turns out to be heavy. Other one of the problems resides in the hardware. If you compile today the kernel for a hardware in concretly and eliminate the income that "today" you do not need, if tomorrow you need to connect a certain device and do not have time of " re-compiling the kernel ", you are not going to be able to use it.

The last couple of days,I've experienced several times a OOPS!Kernel error, which should not surprise anyone running an Alpha version of a new version of Ubuntu. What did surprise me was the ambiguous way you report a kernel error. While the graphic part is a nice touch, I find the questions and implementation a tad unclear for novice to mid-end users.

Many people know the age-old debate on Monolithic vs Micro kernel and many references can be found on the web.

I also quite sure that everybody recognise that theoretically and conceptually microkernels are better for security, reliability, ease to maintain and develop, while monolithic kernels have a point only on velocity and multithreading management.

The GNU Hurd project is born much time ago but has always encountered some difficulties and it still far from being usable for "end-user oriented" OS.

As it is stated in the first goals of the Ubuntu project, Ubuntu is born to bring new users to Debian, attempting to remedy to Debian's long time for develop-release cycle.

Debian already has a GNU/Hurd port. The goal is to sustain this particular project, "the Ubuntu way"

Lots of the more intense applications for Linux (such as games, sound recording, video editing) require a real time kernel or at least recommend one. (Look at some of ID's games for Linux and you can see this)

So why is it not default? If Ubuntu is to be a general purpose operating system, it needs to handle the intensive apps as well as the basic ones, and real-time seems logical.

I recently helped another user through the process of repairing a very broken system. In attempting to free up some space on /boot, he accidentally removed the packages for *all* of his kernel images. He intended to remove all but the most recent, I assume. (reference: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1313854)

I'm proposing this idea because it's incredibly easy to accidentally render a system unbootable, and it's disproportionately difficult to fix it once it's in that state. I don't really think this is a *bug* per se, since the package manager was obeying the user input.

The ubuntu linux kernel is not shipped with ATAPI/IDE support, it emulates SCSI devices and in some hardware it produces a kernel panic.
This could be done very easily, and it'll only increase the kernel size in a few kb.
Ubuntu claims to be an universal distribution so please don't lack of compatibility.

after some time a lot of older kernels are kept, which for most users are useless.

it would be nice to have a feature to automatically remove older kernels once new ones are installed and "working".

because determining if a new kernel is "working" or not is problematic, the new feature should probably be off by default and opt-in from somewhere.

this happens automatically if the user removes the old kernels using a package manager, but because this happens routinely when upgrading the system, i think it deserves to be treated as maintenance.

When you are travelling and do not have access to a power outlet for recharging your telephone, camera or other mobile devices, usually one can use a laptop to charge such a device via USB.

Unfortunately, if you are not using the laptop, a lot of power will be consumed by the disks, screen, CPU, fans, etc. while you are only interested in power being available at the USB ports.

This can be achieved by building a special kernel that will shut down all hardware that is not needed for offering power via USB (and FireWire/IEEE1394). The kernel will disable the disks, screen, CPU, fans, etc. leaving only the power at afore mentioned ports. The laptop can be shut down by holding the power button for 10 seconds (this is hard wired and does not need the kernel or CPU).

Implementing this idea will allow for highly energy efficient recharging of devices like telephones, cameras and other mobile devices via your laptop.