Dan is right. Linux is basically a resident memory OS (that is once you load a program into memory it stays running as the version and patch level it was origionally loaded as). The only way to use the new updates or patches you've installed is to reload the program. For the kernel this basically means rebooting the OS (though arguably you could do a lot of work using chroot in another environment and change it that way without rebooting, but it's quite difficult and not at all worth it).
<br><br>Uptime is fun and it does show the stability of Linux, but to actually keep your machine secure you need to reboot every so often.<br><br>-Gamble<br><br>BTW - having programs fully loaded into memory is rather cool. I once had a desktop Linux system on which I had to uninstall KDE, QT and most of my apps and then wait for all of them to recompile for a major system change. So I simply brought up KDE and loaded everything I thought I might use. I didn't bother finishing the update for a week. Even though KDE was uninstalled it continued to run because it was all in memory.
<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 7/6/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Daniel A. Ramaley</b> <<a href="mailto:daniel.ramaley@drake.edu">daniel.ramaley@drake.edu</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I've used up2date on the RHEL machines at work and no, it doesn't force<br>you to reboot. But then the new kernel doesn't actually take effect.<br>Under Debian aptitude doesn't force me to reboot either, though it is<br>helpful enough to display a message strongly encouraging a reboot.
<br><br>I used to care about uptimes, but now i keep my kernels patched instead.<br><br>On Thursday 06 July 2006 11:34, Dave J. Hala Jr. wrote:<br>>After a kernel update using yum or up2date on RHEL you don't need to<br>
>reboot.<br>><br>>:) Dave<br>><br>>On Thu, 2006-07-06 at 11:20, Daniel A. Ramaley wrote:<br>>> On Thursday 06 July 2006 10:10, Dave J. Hala Jr. wrote:<br>>> >[root@www root]# uptime<br>>> > 08:21:28 up 375 days, 22:35, 1 user, load average:
0.01, 0.02,<br>>> > 0.00<br>>><br>>> This means your kernel hasn't been patched in over a year, right?<br><br>--<br>------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Dan Ramaley Dial Center 118, Drake University
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