@$&@* Debian Kernel Packages!

Self, you are an idiot. There should be licenses required to operate computers, so that yours could be revoked. Repeat after me: Set the status of kernel packages to hold. Set the status of kernel packages to hold.

On my primary machine (which happens to be a laptop), I am running Debian Etch (which earlier this year became the Stable branch, after long being the Testing one). For years, I have been using apt-get to handle package management, but it is quickly losing it's luster in my eyes. I liked it because I could type:

# apt-get upgrade

and it would go through and automatically update all of the packages I had currently installed to the latest versions. The problem is that every time a new kernel image is released, it totally hoses up stuff for the custom kernel that I have compiled. So, I end up having to download the newest kernel source and compile another custom one. Which just seems like too much work (although getting the latest kernel source is good), and I wouldn't have to do all of that, if I would just remember to set the status of those packages to hold (which tells apt not to download and install the newest version). Mental note, to set packages to hold:

echo "package_name hold"|dpkg --set-selections

This would be so much easier if I would stop trying to do all of my package management at the command line...