Re: Kernel choices
Also sprach Jim Hall <volunteer@revealed.net> (Tue, 19 Apr 2005 14:19:38
-0500):
> I've looked through the 2.6 kernel choices (x86 arch) and found the
> following.
>
> kernel-image-2.6-386 (generic vanilla)
>
> kernel-image-2.6-686 (Celeron/PII to P4)
>
> kernel-image-2.6-k7 (AMD Duron/Athlon)
>
>
> At the moment, the systems I'm dealing with fall into the 2nd & 3rd
> catagories. Is there an advantage to using those specific kernels
> instead of the 2.6-386? Is the CPU specificity that much "better" than
> the generic?
newer processors offer new sets of instructions (think about
mmx/sse/..). these "optimized" builds take advantage of those and so may
run lill' faster. however a i686 optimized kernel won't work on a '586
or older machine.
there are also features like mce (machine check exeption) and others
useable in "state of the art" hardware which don't work on older
processors. but that's another story :)
> Jim
sl ritch.
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