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I am currently running Ubuntu 14.04.4 with kernel version 3.16. There are posts that indicate that the current kernel version is 3.19. Should I upgrade, if yes then how? Wouldn't the kernel be automatically upgraded by Ubuntu Software Center?

The output of hostnamectl status  is given below.

Static hostname: neelanshu-HP-Notebook
         Icon name: computer-laptop
           Chassis: laptop
           Boot ID: fc22e28db4834eb3862e269203e58923
  Operating System: Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS
            Kernel: Linux 3.16.0-69-generic
      Architecture: x86_64

Please advise. Thanks.

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1  
Possible duplicate of How can I upgrade the Ubuntu LTS kernel to newer? – muru Apr 3 '16 at 13:35
    
The latest is 4.2, actually: packages.ubuntu.com/trusty/linux-generic-lts-wily – muru Apr 3 '16 at 13:36
up vote 14 down vote accepted

You do not have to upgrade your kernel. Kernel 3.16 still gets security and bug fixing updates.

But you CAN upgrade the kernel to 3.19 by

sudo apt-get install linux-generic-lts-vivid

or to 4.2 by

sudo apt-get install linux-generic-lts-wily

It is even possible to upgrade to kernel 4.4, but that may cause issues with DKMS modules

sudo apt-get install linux-generic-lts-xenial
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Is there any disadvantage, in terms of performance, security etc, if I stay with 3.16? – neelanshu Apr 3 '16 at 13:59
    
I do not think so. New kernels are needed to support new hardware. And there is no need to upgrade if there is no specific reason. – Pilot6 Apr 3 '16 at 14:00
2  
You need newer kernel for "cutting-edge technologies" like zfs or docker. – Petr Jun 27 '16 at 8:54
    
Note that kernels can have security vulnerabilities like any other package. Eg.: ubuntu.com/usn/usn-3106-2 – Christian Oct 28 '16 at 1:53

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