Linux Kernel 4.9 EOL since 7th January

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nickant
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 7:41    Post subject: Linux Kernel 4.9 EOL since 7th January Reply with quote
Will DD-WRT be moving to the 4.14 Kernel soon?
4.9 has not received any updates - security or otherwise - for 3 months now.

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blkt
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 7:47    Post subject: Reply with quote
Rolling Eyes
nickant
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 7:51    Post subject: Reply with quote
As helpful as usual.
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blkt
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:08    Post subject: Reply with quote
Another one of these threads is not helpful.
nickant
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:13    Post subject: Reply with quote
Has the Kernel been EOL for 3 months before?
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blkt
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:15    Post subject: Reply with quote
As they say, you can only lead a horse to water.
nickant
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:16    Post subject: Reply with quote
Rolling Eyes
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Alozaros
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 15:13    Post subject: Reply with quote
Linux kernel for embedded devices is totally different from the mainstream PC/Servers Linux kernel...
Some devices are still on K 2.xx or happily using 3.10, 3.18 or even 4.4, 4.9, 4.14 and ect. those
kernels are very castrated and lot of those have tons of backports and so on...

Well...for some devices OpenWRT is on k 5.. but who cares...as those old K are still ok...and K5 to be castrated so much, not much point of it, unless your device is craving and hardware ready for it...

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egc
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 15:40    Post subject: Reply with quote
Some kernels are on SLTS (Super Long Term Support) e.g. 4.4:
https://wiki.linuxfoundation.org/civilinfrastructureplatform/start

However 4.9 is not and yes it is EOL, but serious security vulnerabilities are still backported although not officially.

If there was an easy route to upgrade to 4.19 then that would be an option but there is not Sad

I also run an R7800 on K5.10 (OpenWRT) it works but is slower than DDWRT, the nss build (which is not a hallmark of stability ) is equal fast as DDWRT without (if the router is lightly taxed).

So I do not see any value at this moment in upgrading to K5.x (besides it is a task of Herculean proportions)

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kernel-panic69
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 16:37    Post subject: Reply with quote
In addition to SLTS per @egc, among several *other* resources. I'll refrain from pointing out the obvious IRT these kinds of threads too much.

https://patchwork.kernel.org/

https://backports.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page

Most embedded development by vendors is still using Linux 2.6.x / 3.10.x / 3.18.x / 4.1.x / 4.10.x / 4.20.x ... the "upstream" for MIPS and ARM outside of smartphones AFAIK are using the 4.x.x paths, and what can and cannot be backported to 4.4, 4.9, 4.14, etc. depends on specific code changes. What is really fun is patching Linux 2.6.x, specifically 2.6.2x.x and 2.6.3x.x against CVEs that apparently apply, even though the code referenced is not the code from the Linux 2.6 tree (function convention changes FTW!)

RHEL 7 / CentOS 7 is still supporting Linux 3.10.x, if memory serves.

https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/

For what a router is meant to be and do, implementing a big, fat, slow ass kernel is probably overkill, unless you have full access to certain source code (i.e. Broadcom). Anyhow, happy Chicken Little-ing.

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nickant
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2023 1:00    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you for your answers!
I guess 4.9 is small and fast and can be used on routers with few resources.
But it's 2023 and I don't know of anyome wanting to use >10 year old weak routers now, especially as internet speeds have risen so much over time.
In all the years I have used DD-WRT, it has always had 4.9.
Now that backporting updates to it are going to involve more work, maybe it should be updated.
Even so, 4.14 will be EOL in another year too.
OpenWrt is moving to 5.15 in its next main release - it will be LTS for a few years more.
If backporting security to 4.9 is ok going forward, I shall refrain from looking up at the sky and just assume it's still there. Smile

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dale_gribble39
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:16    Post subject: Reply with quote
Some people cannot see the forest for the trees.

https://svn.dd-wrt.com/browser/src/linux/universal/linux-4.9

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nickant
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2023 8:54    Post subject: Reply with quote
dale_gribble39 wrote:
Some people cannot see the forest for the trees.

https://svn.dd-wrt.com/browser/src/linux/universal/linux-4.9


Well - what an obvious place to look!
/s
So much friendly advice here on this forum.

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blkt
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2023 13:00    Post subject: Reply with quote
A tired subject, which has been resurrected so many times, usually in spring time a clockwork of rabbit droppings.
Same argument different day...reference a current year, or look at bigger kernel numbers, in name of security etc.

So unless someone has a valid and direct set of concerns which need to be addressed it's same old broken record.

DD-WRT has always taken different approach which involves lots of backporting but also retains hardware support.
Something OpenWrt does not do 19.07 drew a line in the sand for hardware requirements it's supported no longer.

OpenWrt resizes partitions to fit relatively enormous kernel 5.x, packages get larger too & yes on dated hardware.
So with unique limitations, the main question is why does DD-WRT need to be OpenWrt? Why can't we have both?

2016 hardware is no longer your style? x86 requirements met, size, efficiency, performance and better every year.
The only limitation here at this point is an ability to correctly choose and configure hardware tailored to the needs.
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