MHR wrote: > On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 3:04 PM, Davide Cittaro > <davide.cittaro at ifom-ieo-campus.it> wrote: > >> Great! I'm 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5.centos.plus! I don't se 2.6.20 in yum >> updates... is there any unstable repository I should enable? >> > > You're playing with fire now. Newer kernels are not necessarily > backwards compatible, and major breaks can occur. You are free to do > as you choose, of course, but this is CentOS - you break it, you own > it. > to clarify what MHR is saying for the benefit of the uninitiated... a given upstream EL major version (3, 4, 5) is released with a specific kernel, for instance, EL 5 uses 2.6.18. rather than releasing completely new kernels, upstream backpatches critical fixes into their 2.6.18 version, effectively creating a branch, the current version of which is 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5 (unless its been updated again since I last checked). This maintains near-total compatibility, so that a given release remains a stable platform for its entire lifespan.