[arch-general] 'base' package install with non-updated linux-kernel

[Eli Schwartz]

On 10/19/19 9:53 PM, riveravaldez via arch-general wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> because of this problem [1] (apparently a kernel/driver/hardware
> issue?) I'm forced to stay on linux-5.2.14-arch2-1 right now.
> My question is: should/can I anyway install the 'base' package anyway
> as explained in [2]?
> 
> Thanks a lot
> 
> [1] https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=249330
> [2] https://www.archlinux.org/news/base-group-replaced-by-mandatory-base-package-manual-intervention-required/

If your kernel issue was making you not do any updates at all, this
seems... suboptimal as you then get no updates at all. The kernel is the
one package it is completely okay to not upgrade with the rest of your
system, since it doesn't exactly link to any libraries (or have anything
link to it), and furthermore, it is totally fine to not have a kernel
installed (for example, chroots and containers use the host kernel) or
install any other kernel like the linux-lts kernel, currently at version
4.19.80-1.

So my advice is to either add the "linux" package to IgnorePkg until
your issue is resolved, or switch to the linux-lts kernel for now. The
next LTS kernel will skip from 4.19 to 5.4, and hopefully by that time
this bug will be fixed...
Then simply keep up to date as normal, while keeping an eye on the
referenced bugzilla.freedesktop.org ticket.

Of course, once you are keeping your system up to date while handling
the kernel separately and specially, you should have no problem
installing or updating any other package, in this case 'base'.

Also note that 'base' does not depend on 'linux'.

-- 
Eli Schwartz
Bug Wrangler and Trusted User

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