Linux is pretty stable, it doesn’t really need to be rebooted twice a day like another operating system that shall remain unnamed. Thats one of the reasons Linux is installed on 19 of the 20 top supercomputers in the world. However, with Kernel updates you will always need to reboot. Who needs that? Enter Ksplice!

Ksplice is an extension of the Linux kernel which allows system administrators to apply security patches to a running kernel without having to reboot the operating system. Ksplice won the grand prize  MIT Entrepreneurship Competition in 2009. Of course such an application is more needed at an enterprise level than as a regular desktop user.  Here let Waseem Daher explain:

Ksplice’s press release announced free support for consumers running the latest version of Ubuntu Linux OS:

In order to demonstrate this technology, Ksplice will begin offering a free demonstration version of its rebootless update service, called Ksplice Uptrack, to consumers running the latest version of the Ubuntu Linux operating system.  Computers that are signed up for the Ksplice Uptrack service will receive the same important security updates as other machines, but they will not need to reboot in order to install the updates.

You can download Ksplice from their download page. Also, if you are interested in the inner working of Ksplice, here is their technical paper [PDF]

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