> I have had Debian 2.1 installed and running in text mode for about a year > now. I have not played with it much as I prefer to have a working X > server, hence I have used and maintained several Mandrake systems, which I > am sick of. > > I am stuck in text mode in Debian with a dial up connection as I live > way out in the woods where this is all that there is available and so all > I have to work with. Is there any hope for me upgrading my Debian system? > > Mandrake is so proprietary that it reminds me of Microsoft, if a package > does not say "-mdk.rpm" it will most often not install on my systems and > that is only the beginning of the problems that I have with their systems. > > from kernel.org, is there a way that I can get it to compile under > Debian kernel 2.1, as I have not bothered to even try after my Mandrake > experiences? > Of course you can compile kernel 2.4 on your Debian system. The only question is whether you really need the new features provided in kernel 2.4. Compiling a kernel is distro-independent. There is a Debian way to do it, please refer to the manuals, but you can also make it via make clean dep install..
HTH Stephan