Amit Uttamchandani wrote:
Hey guys, I apologize for the fairly primitive question. But I have been fairly curious as to the advantages of compiling the most recent kernels. As I understand, the new kernel has a new scheduler (CFS). Haven't seen much benchmarks but the early ones I have seen showed some fairly decent performance gains. Next, I am using Debian Etch on a old 500MHz PPC system. Thus, if there any performance improvements, they probably would be noticeable on old system like this. And finally, there should be no risks in compiling a new kernel right? If I am not mistaken, I can choose (at start-up) which one to boot from. Actually one more thing, any benefits to doing this? Besides the geek satisfaction that all of us get from compiling a new kernel.
Well, the primary advantage to rolling your own is that you can customize the kernel for your hardware.
Generic kernels include drivers for all sorts of things, most of which you don't have.
This can reduce the size of the kernel, which can translate into faster operations, as well as reduced space needed to hold it (and the modules you build, if any).
Thanks, Amit
-- Bob McGowan
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