Re: [PATCH optional] linux: use 6.18 for generic images

[colby@colbyt.com]

Awesome -- for my purposes I only needed a current kernel, I just was doing that out of perceived consideration, since I was sending a major nix update and going to the newest kernel.  

All of those sets are just all the things I had to do to get to nixlatest and boot native apple devices, in case you didn't have any of those update patches on your local.



On Thursday, July 2nd, 2026 at 7:28 AM, Alyssa Ross <hi@alyssa.is> wrote:

> colbyt <colby@colbyt.com> writes:
> 
> > Keep the generic rootfs, app VM, net VM, and installer on the linux_6_18
> > package set after updating nixpkgs.
> >
> > This is an optional conservative variant for deployments that should stay
> > on the Linux 6.18 LTS line instead of following linux_latest to Linux
> > 7.1.1. With the new nixpkgs pin, that keeps the LTS track while updating
> > from Linux 6.18.2 to Linux 6.18.36.
> >
> > Tested with the full integration suite on Linux 6.18.36.
> >
> > Signed-off-by: colbyt <colby@colbyt.com>
> 
> In Spectrum proper I'd like to stick to the latest stable kernels.
> There are a few reasons for this:
> 
> • Backports, including security fixes, to older kernels are best-effort,
>   and sometimes end up getting missed.
> • By working with newer kernels we catch regressions faster.  The longer
>   it takes for a regression to be found, the more difficult it can be to
>   get it fixed (e.g. because there's a higher chance somebody has
>   started depending on the new behaviour).
> • New features from new kernels!
> 
> Naturally, some specialized deployments might still prefer to pin a
> kernel version, and Spectrum should facilitate this as long as it
> doesn't cause undue maintenance overhead.
>