Kernel headers update policy

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1

Here I am after spending about 30 minutes getting to the bottom of this.
Perhaps mentioning it in the Fedora Docs would be a good idea. Also maybe create the kernel-headers-$(uname -r) package that just creates links to the real folder?
This is an unnecessary confusion.

2

What was the problem you are refering to?

FYI if you want to know what was installed by an RPM this command will tell you rpm -ql kernel-headers.

3

The kernel-headers is used for compiling user level programs. For building kernel modules the headers provided by kernel-devel should be used instead.

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4

I was referring to this: Kernel & kernel-headers versions

It’s pretty usual to have the kernel headers package match the current kernel, but in Fedora it isn’t. Now I get why, and it does make sense, but it’s unusual and a popular struggle for newcomers even after years.

5

In Fedora, no idea about other distros, the kernel headers package only updates if there a change from the pervious version.

Given it does install into a version file system folder should not matter to anyone.

6

Not providing the kernel-headers-$(uname -r) package isn’t standard practice, and now that I know why and agree with it, I gave suggestions in my comment, it should at least be mentioned in the Docs, as it’s a fairly recurring issue even after years, and a unnecessary point of confusion from people coming from other distros. But what do I know?!

7

Different distros manage things differently. Fedora AFAIK has never used what you claim as ‘standard practice’ for the kernel headers package and I have used fedora since it first originated. Some distros may do that but certainly not all.

8

In Fedora 26 and earlier, the kerne-headers package was built as part of building the kernel package itself, so the version number of kernel-headers was identical to that of the other kernel packages.

From the change log of the kernel package:

* Mon Jul 30 2018 Justin M. Forbes <jforbes@fedoraproject.org> - 4.17.11-100
- Linux v4.17.11
- Turn off kernel-headers for the split
- Fix CVE-2018-14678 (rhbz 1608559 1608560)
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