Re: kernel version
On Sat, 2003-01-11 at 08:33, Rich Puhek wrote:
>
> Ana Paula Sabelli wrote:
[...]
> Typically, I'll roll my own kernel immediately after installing the
> machine. That way, I start out with just the features and modules I
> need, and the "best" kernel. I grap the source from kernel.org, and use
> the Debian tools to build (very nice, keeps you from breaking things
> badly). See the following link for info on Debian's tools for custom
> kernels:
I used to do this, but now I find the binary kernels in the distro
better than good enough. They are fully modular initrd kernels so it
doesn't matter if they have every device available... if they are not
used, they are not loaded. They are also available targeted to various
CPU's so they are pretty tweaked... and they work on just about any
hardware you throw at them.
The plethora of kernel options have blown out so much that I don't have
time to research the merits of enabling or disabling all the
CONFIG_DOOHICKY features to tweak my own kernel. Whenever I do need to
compile my own kernel, I simply copy the Debian binary kernel's config
and only change the bits I really need tweaked. So far the only reason
I've ever needed to do this is to apply an obscure patch or driver
support.
Most of the times I've seen people compile custom Debian kernels, they
don't work because they've missed some critical device.
The other advantage of the official binary kernels is they are much
smaller... than the source. Downloading the source just to compile a
leaner kernel is counter-productive, especially if you are on the end of
a modem.
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