In 2017, 449 vulnerabilities were discovered in the kernel.

Overall, new vulnerabilities get discovered every day or every other day.

https://www.cvedetails.com/product/4...l?vendor_id=33

Should you update the kernel every day, or just stick your head in the sand and pretend that the problem doesn't exist?

Linus is a notorious C++ hater, but had C++ been competently used, most common classes of vulnerabilities would have effectively disappeared.

Windows 11 is nice...

I'd use OpenBSD, but I need Linux for work.

Says the guy who hasn't written an operating system kernel which has taken over the world about the guy who has.

McDonald's has taken over the world. Purdue Pharma too. You were saying?

Does McDonald's care that you don't like pickles in your burgers?

As a non-American, I've never heard of Purdue Pharma, so it seems you're sadly mistaken about that.

I don't eat burgers. Too much saturated fat.

My point is that popularity is not synonymous with quality.
Well, I'm sure there are people in Nigeria who never heard of Linux, but that didn't stop you from claiming it's taken over the world.

According to Google, 74% of the smart phones in Nigeria are running Android, which I'm sure you know uses the Linux kernel... So it seems you're wrong again!

Just because Android uses Linux doesn't mean that everyone in Nigeria has heard of Linux.

How can I be wrong again if I wasn't wrong the first time?

BTW you may want to educate yourself. While they did not kill quite as many people as Covid did in the US, if you factor in the life expectancy, I'm sure they have outdone Covid.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...mpire-of-pain/

Aha, but the claim you're disputing is that Linux has taken over the world... and you'll have a hard time trying to prove that it hasn't.

The bit about people in Nigeria hearing about it was noise which you added.

As delightful as that trip to Nigeria was, back to your question:

[aside] Why did you choose to pick 2017? Interesting. [/aside]

Most of the CVEs are for specific drivers.

From the link you posted, I note that the last 'general' (i.e: not device specific) security vulnerability in the Linux kernel was reported in 2015.

The answer to your question is: If you own a piece of hardware which is affected by a security vulnerability, then yes, you should upgrade the kernel. If not, I'd probably not be too concerned. Other reasons to upgrade might be added support for a piece of hardware you have, or added features, like the recent addition of NTFS support.

Security holes tend to get patched very quickly, so running the latest version will ensure that you're covered. Otherwise, you can look at the changelogs to see what has been added or changed and decide for yourself.

Seriously ...

The good folks who maintain your "distro" are constantly on the lookout for new vulnerabilities, and they very quickly prepare "security updates" for you to please immediately apply. (As does Microsoft, and as does Apple, IBM, etcetera.)

The most convenient thing to do is to set up your system so that it automatically installs these "security updates" as soon as they are published. (This admonition is true of all operating systems, and your cell phones as well.)

You are making stuff up as you go. I can see that. But why???

On the off chance that you're simply very confused, here's one this month, just as a for-instance:

Can't we just ban max.b?
From kernel vulnerabilities to bashing Torvalds to Big Pharma to Nigeria and Covid in a heartbeat, all instigated by OP.
This is very obviously going nowhere.

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