On Thu Jul 13 2000 at 01:12, "Jorge R. Csapo" wrote:
> Tony Nugent wrote:
> >
> > That's not necessarily a good thing. Monolithic kernels are usually
> > bad news because they rob you of a lot of flexability with managing
> > device drivers.
> >
> > With obvious exceptions, build everything as much as you can as
> > modules. (Believe me, I've been using linux for more than 6 years,
> > and driver modules ARE the way to go).
>
> I beg to differ. Like most everything, the decision of monolythic vs.
> modularized depends on what your intentions are. If you're building a
Oh gohd yes, I know all this... been there, done that too :-) I
accept this completely, I was hoping to stress that it does depend
on what you intend to do with it. Of course.
But for general purposes, and the purposes described in the original
query, the default (updated) kernel WILL do just fine.
The original poster indicated "newbie" status. Compiling kernels
isn't for the feint-hearted, in this case isn't necessary, and it
does take a while before the implications of how they are configured
become apparent. Mind you, compiling kernels is fantastic for
getting to know what linux can do and to do customisations etc.
I still maintain - for general purposes - the default distribution
kernels do just about everything most people need to do.
> > Use the default standard distribution kernel (or rather, replace
> > this with the updated kernel from ftp.redhat.com) - it will do
> > everything that you need to do here.
>
> Again, that depends. The default standard distribution kernel usually
> comes compiled for the 386 on Intel distros, because they're aimed at
There are i568 and i686 and smp variant builds and rpms of the same
kernel in the standard redhat distribution. This isn't an issue.
RedHat are even planning an all-i586 distribution.
> the lowest common denominator. If you're running on a Pentium-class
> machine, you may benefit from a recompile. Also, the standard kernels
> come with lots of unnecessary options and drivers enabled because
> whoever packaged your distro can't know beforehand what your hardware
> will be. You know that info, however, and you can customize the kernel
> to be as "lean and mean" as possible.
Sure. But the extra "baggage" is only loadable modules, space on
the hard drive - NOT in ram.
It doesn't hurt to have the modules there, compiled and ready to
use. Example... someone comes along with a parallel port Zip drive.
Ok, the default redhat kernel has the drivers there as modules ready
to use - plug it in, insmod the driver modules, and voila! Too bad
if you haven't compiled the drivers.
But sure, if the kernel is for a router, then it doesn't need much.
But this is digressing from the original issue with the networking
problem. :)
Cheers
Tony
