Thanks for this new kernel, guys…

I’m glad that when I last bought a new SSD for my machine (in August 2021 I think) I set up that boot SSD as a triple boot system, with Win10 just for a few programs (Olympus/OM System, looking at you), my usual workhorse Debian GNU/Linux, but also Arch Linux which is a “rolling release” type Linux distribution, so you’ll always have the latest and greatest software within days or even hours – a bit like Debian “Sid”/unstable.

So yesterday I updated Arch again, and got a new kernel – and after a reboot, the sensors were all working:

Screenshot from 2022-03-08 09-41-08
Arch Linux with kernel 5.16.12-arch1-1

That was a bit of a surprise since there was this bug concerning sensord in conjunction with some chips which are used on Asus mainboards such as mine or Mitchie’s (I’m always using Asus when building machines). So finally, after 8 or 9 years I can see the rotation speed of the CPU and case fans again, plus some other things.

This doesn’t show up on Debian of course:

Screenshot from 2022-03-08 09-34-31
Debian GNU/Linux 11 (Bullseye) with kernel 5.10.0-11-amd64

There’s a reason to run Debian stable on your desktop. While I enjoy seeing all the progress with pipewire and other programs on Arch, I’m also not afraid to break something with these updates, because I still have my trusty old Debian which serves me well since I first used it (in 2008 or even earlier? Would have to dig the internet archive for my articles about this)…

So it will take a while (I think even “Sid” is still at linux-image-5.15, and so are derivates like Ubuntu & Co), but sooner or later this kernel version will also be available in Debian. And that’s why I wanted to send a “thank you” to all the kernel developers, and of course also the Arch team. Great work, everyone. 🙂