Re: kernel maintenance
>>>>> "Bill" == Bill Hogan <bhogan@rahul.net> writes:
Bill> Specifically, does kernel support for _modules_ qualify as a patch
Bill> or is it an inseparable part of the kernel?
It an inseparable part of the kernel.
Both the 1.2.x and 1.3.x kernel source trees have support for building
some driver as modules rather than linking them directly into the
kernel. Briefly:
1.2.x kernels:
These have only a few loadable modules - mostly for the different file
system types (msdos etc) and for various network drivers (ppp,dummy
etc).
You build the basic kernel including the drivers required to boot and those
that are not modularised (most things) then do make modules to compile
all the possible modules and make modules_install to copy them into
the root partitions.
1.3.x Kernels:
These kernels have much more extensive kernel support for modules:
When you do make config many things have a "new" choice - m for build
as a module. Make modules will then only build the modules you
selected rather than all possible modules.
The is also a modules-XXX-.deb package that is part of the base
system. This contains all the module support utilities - modprobe
rmmod etc.
alvar
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Alvar Bray
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