KSplice is an incredibly useful application that allows important updates to be installed (such as new kernels, etc) without requiring the need for a reboot.
Co-founder Waseem Dahr put it quite eloquently in an e-mail to me: –
At the end of the day, we think it is absurd that you have to reboot your devices or restart your applications to get software updates.
We believe that your router, SAN, VM, OS, database, application, mobile device, set top box, etc. should all be able to be updated without disruption — and it’s our mission to get Ksplice out there so that this vision becomes a reality.
And you know what? He does have a point. If you’re a ‘always on’ obsessive (like moi) you can rid yourself of the pain of rebooting due to kernel updates thanks to – and let’s crack out the epic words here the revolutionary KSplice.
Installation
KSplice can be installed from the official site: –
- http://www.ksplice.com/uptrack/
From here you can download the .deb file for simple two-click installation.
Usage
Ksplice will sit in your panel and notify you of any kernel updates. This is both handy AND annoying depending on your viewpoint: Handy because it’s always there, yet annoying because it’s always there.
DO remember that all other updates can only be installed through the normal update manager.
Resource Usage
People on lower spec systems such as netbooks shouldn’t worry about any memory or proessor overheads – Ksplice uses around 4Mbs on my system – roughly the same as the Gnome Volume Applet!
Accessing it
Since Ksplice is designed to always ‘run’ there is no menu entry for it; it starts on login. This is intentional according to Waseem Dahr, but is something they may look at introducing later along the line.
If you do end up quitting it – whether by accident or from wanting to save your eyes from the garish K! icon sat on your panel – you’ll need to manually restart it using the command: –
- uptrack-manager
Karmic Themes Woes
For users of Karmic’s gorgeous default icon set ‘humanity’ – you’ll find your pretty and subtle notification area blitized by the large and unapologetically obtrusive KSplice icon.
(Okay so it’s not -that- bad and a million other applications don’t have karmic friendly icons, either but i need to find a negative somewhere!)