Post #994413

2026-03-02 20:06 UTC

Important bit of #linux advice: Even though a linux system can manage hundreds of days of uptime you should reboot it on a regular basis anyway. The reason is simple: 100 days of uptime means you haven’t tested the boot sequence for over 3 months. Is the bootloader still working?do you still know if you started a new service but forgot to add it to the boot squence?Is that one service that has its configuration in ram saved?[Edit: added] Bug/security fixes will only become active when programs are restarted and a reboot is the easiest way t make sure everything is the latest version installed.If you reboot regularly you notice those mistakes while you still remember making them, if the box is forced to reboot when you least need it half a year later you have no idea what’s not working and no time to debug.

Replies (6)

@mage_of_dragons@mastodon.social 2026-03-02 20:18

@slatian also the torvalds program does NOT like it if you don't reboot after a kernel upgrade

Open ##994414
@sibrosan@mastodon.social 2026-03-02 20:24

@slatian That would only apply if you start new services or make significant changes to the system I have a Raspberry Pi 2 with an uptime of 1733 days and I don't plan to restart it

Open ##994415
@kodaian@fedi.catboy.agency 2026-04-07 07:44

@slatian@pleroma.envs.net being reminded of just how many people don't fully power off / reboot their computers regularly never fails to baffle me

Open ##994416
@espyeen@meow.social 2026-04-07 08:01

@slatian what people conveniently ignore when comparing uptime epeens is that systems which do in fact have such impressive uptimes are usually legacy ones that have been running without changes all this time. for personal computers or servers that you actively manage and especially systems that have direct internet access this is non negotiable. you should be performing regular reboots to apply security updates and test operational resilience.

Open ##994418
@Stellar@mk.absturztau.be 2026-04-07 08:14

@slatian@pleroma.envs.net fuck it, we ball

Open ##994419
@slonk@be.slonk.ing 2026-04-07 08:23

@slatian systemctl soft-reboot and kexec would like to have a chat with you

Open ##994420