How to choose the right kernel for your pc?
So...
I am using Apple hardware, which gets extremely hot using anything other than macOS, which I have complained about here several times (I am sure many of you are sick and tired of me).
Some suggestions to this problem has been to update to more recent released kernels.
I have also seen people mentioning hardware components working with this and that kernel, but not with other kernels.
But this leads me to question: how does one really go forth to knowing what kernel is the right for your pc?
Do you just try to install the oldest Linux-libre kernel, and work your up and take notes of what works and what doesn't?
Or does it exist some sort of database where other people have logged their wins and losses with different kernels on different machines?
Cheers and stay free
Do you just try to install the oldest Linux-libre kernel, and work your up and take notes of what works and what doesn't?
Basically, yes, except that you do not start with "the oldest Linux-libre kernel" but with the one that the distribution shipped.
Normally, the highest the version of the kernel, the more hardware it supports and the better it supports it. However, newer versions have been less tested. They are more likely to suffer from bugs. That is why it is usually advised to stick with the version shipped with the distribution (4.4 in the case of Trisquel 8), unless your hardware is not properly supported. If so, you can get the newer version in the repository of the distribution (4.13 in the case of Trisquel 8) or, if that is not enough, install a kernel from an external repository (https://jxself.org/linux-libre/ is the one you want, for Trisquel) starting with an LTS version (currently, version 4.14), then a stable version (currently, version 4.16).
how is 4.13, 4.14 and 4.16 newer than 4.4? What's the logic here?
The most common version numbers are not decimal numbers but (usually dot-separated) sequences of integers to be compared lexicographically (integer by integer, from left to right). Here the first integer is always 4 and the ordering only depends on the second integer: 4 < 13 < 14 < 16.
okay so when you said 4.4, you said 4.4.0?
and accordingly when you said 4.13 etc you said 4.4.13?
No, I did not. Do you need a third letter to order "be" and "by" in the dictionary? You do no need a third integer in the version numbers either.
Oh haha 13 > 4 yes yes :P
I was just thinking 13 were 1.3 and 4 were 4.0