[mdlug] FYI: Ubuntu breakage with kernel 2.6.17-11

[Jeff Hanson]

Kernel image didn't make it into the repos so there are dependency
problems with upgrades and installs.  I spent two hours trying to
figure out why Automatix couldn't install VMWare Player correctly.  I
finally figured out that the configure script was failing because
vmnet module wasn't being loaded due to a kernel mismatch.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=356408
https://launchpad.net/soyuz/+bug/83976

Annoying but I agree with post #100 by Tanker Bob:

To help put this event into perspective, Microsoft "security" updates
progressively broke my stable XP setup over the last five months. I
lost sound, Bluetooth, etc., with no recovery even after uninstalling
the Windows updates. They have no real help to offer in these
circumstances. According to their limited "forums", these problems
just don't happen. And that's a multi-billion dollar company.

Granted that the kernel-update breakage this morning was
disconcerting, but it didn't break my 6.10 system in any discernable
way. The updater was smart enough to see that some packages were
broken and bypassed installing them to avoid harm. That a large group
of volunteers can build and maintain a complex system like Kubuntu is
amazing on its own. If a multi-billion-dollar company like MS can make
a continuous stream of broken updates that pith users systems, I think
that I can cut the Ubuntu crowd some slack when things don't always go
as planned. JMHO.