[Techtalk] Is Linux 2.4.18 Really That Unstable?

[caitlynmaire at earthlink.net]

Hi, Julie, and everyone else,

I've had very good results with both RH 8.0 (2.4.18-14 kernel) and RH 7.3
(upgraded to 2.4.18-10 kernel) on our machines at work and mine at home.  We
use ext3 across the board on various different hardware configurations, from
well equipped servers to IBM Thinkpad laptops.  

Here's a possibility I have seen and I have not seen discussed:  I have had
problems in the past when I have heavily upgraded assorted packages including
the kernel under older Red Hat distributions.  You mentioned you started with
a 2.4.2-2 kernel, which sounds like RH 7.1.  You've done a number of kernel
upgrades with non-RH kernels, added a new filesystem, etc... I've had very
flaky results doing what you've done.

IME it is much better to upgrade the entire distro.  If you can, try
rebuilding (not in-place upgrading) with RH 8.0.  I'd bet your problems
disappear.

Regards,
Caity