I am using a Dell Latitude 3420 (Ubuntu 22.04.3) and it uses a slightly older OEM kernel 5.14.0-1048-oem. The generic kernels keep getting upgraded but are never used. The current generic that I have is 6.2.0-26-generic and 5.15.0-79-generic.

So I have 2 questions

  1. Should I leave the kernel as it is? Some threads online say it's better to leave it as it is as an OEM kernel is better for Ubuntu-certified laptops
  2. If I should change the kernel, what would be the best way? I don't want to hard-code the kernel version.
    • If I have issues in the latest generic kernel, I should be able to roll-back to the OEM kernel.

Related links

  1. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1395080/which-kernel-should-i-use-for-my-hardware-oem-or-generic
  2. https://www.reddit.com/r/XPS/comments/rif7wo/ubuntu_after_installation_oem_kernel_instead_of/
  3. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1387979/removing-a-oem-installed-kernel
  • xavier666@lemm.ee
    ·
    1 year ago

    I was going through the wiki and found this line

    The OEM kernel is also called the OEM staging kernel, because the delta in OEM kernel should all be merged to the generic kernel in the next Ubuntu release, so it is essentially a staging code base.

    Since the latest kernel SHOULD have all the hardware-specific commits of the OEM, right?

    • Oisteink@feddit.nl
      ·
      1 year ago

      My details on how canonical handle their kernels are very limited. I’m no Ubuntu fan, I just manage Ubuntu servers.

      You can check the delta here: https://staging.kernel.ubuntu.com/oem-delta/