confused. (was: Re: sarge upgrade and preempt kernel)

[hendrik@topoi.pooq.com]

On Thu, Sep 21, 2006 at 12:29:36PM +0200, Albert Dengg wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 20, 2006 at 10:18:27PM +0100, David Mulcahy wrote:
> > On Wednesday 20 September 2006 15:04, Albert Dengg wrote:
> > > On Tue, Sep 19, 2006 at 11:22:04PM +0100, David Mulcahy wrote:
> > > > Hello All
> > > >
> > > > Just did a sarge -> etch upgrade.
> > > >
> > > > Aptitude update , upgrade complained about libfam0 problems and stopped.
> > > >
> > > > apt-get worked.  Although I have in the passed disabled inet using the
> > > > documentation on securing debian howto and this seemed to cause problems
> > > > with the upgrade netbase-inetd stopped with errors and caused ppp,
> > > > pppconfig, cupsys  to fail to configure.  Installing openbsd-inet cured
> > > > that problem.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I had upgraded because I wanted a preemptive kernel just to find it isnt
> > > > preemptive.  Is there likely to be a preemptive kernel available when
> > > > etch is ready.  I know I can compile it myself, I just feel there is a
> > > > need for it to be ready and available out of the box straight from
> > > > install.  Obviously I will compile one myself but for newcomers they may
> > > > look elsewhere, which would be a shame.
> > > >
> > > > On my hardware a fully functional desktop is still a problem (eg music
> > > > and video) without a preemptive kernel so if debian is aiming at this
> > > > sector then a preempt kernel would be most welcome.
> > >
> > > Well
> > > i would feel that it may be good to have it as an _option_.
> > 
> > Yes that would be good.  Am i right in thinking that once preempt is set then 
> > all the other refining can be set on the fly with /proc/sys/etc settings.  Or 
> > can preempt be set with /proc?
> > 
> > > as far as i know preemtive kernels do enhance the response time of the
> > > system but on the other hand hurt performance for some server tasks....
> > >
> > > and debian is to my knowlege more widly spread on the server side then
> > > on the desktop side...

I guess I'm confused.  I thought the debian kernel was preemptive, and 
has been as far as I can remember.
Am I wrong?  Or do I have a misunderstanding of what "preemptive" means 
in this context?

-- hendrik