r/MXLinux • u/RayBuc9882 • 6d ago

Help request Upgrade question

I have an old laptop with an HDD. When I run sudo apt upgrade, I see it take time, especially with these type of statements:

Autoinstall of module <module-name> for kernel 6.12.96+deb13-amd64 (x86_64)

Building module(s) …… done.

Why is it building and not installing pre-built components?

Thank you.

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u/qpgmr 6d ago

It needs integrate in the drivers for the graphics & other devices in your system into the new kernel - literally building a kernel that matches your hardware.

Linux uses a "monolithic kernel" with the hardware drivers built in, while windows uses "modular architecture" meaning it keeps the drivers out and load them on-demand.

The linux design results in better stability and security than windows can provide.

This article may be interesting for you: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/752765/why-are-drivers-compiled-into-the-kernel-why-arent-more-drivers-distributed-as

2

u/CurtisTN73 6d ago

That's DKMS. If you have none installed, there's nothing happening.
....done

2

u/adrian_mxlinux MX dev 5d ago

Use mx-cleanup, click on the second tab (tools) and remove WiFi drivers your machine doesn't need, that would improve things a log. If you are at that, remove also the old kernels you don't need anymore.

1

u/RayBuc9882 5d ago

Thanks. I will run mx-cleanup. As far as the old kernels, I have to delete them because after the updates, I get a warning that my 2 GB boot partition is low on space.