On Thu, 20 Jan 2000, Terry Dawson wrote:
> > And is there also a performance improvement visible? Even if someone could
> > assure me that these kernels do not slow down older hardware I would be glad.
> > Then, I could even use a Pentium 133 (w/o MMX) with 32 MB RAM that I
> > assembled from spare parts with Linux 2.2.14 - that would be not bad at all.
>
> The new kernels do not slow down older hardware, be reassured.
>
> > But, a 386 DX 40 with 8 MB should rather stick to 2.0.38, shouldn't it?
>
> Only if you don't want the benefit of all of the improvements that have
> been introduced into the kernel since then.
>
> Terry
The main reason to upgrade is that it makes maintance easier. The
programmers who maintain the kernel ax.25 code, and the related userland
code will be more productive if they do not have to spend part of
their time fixing bugs in "legacy" versions for older kernels (2.0.x).
A Linux machine (i386 or better) with at least 8MB of RAM can run the
2.2 kernel which is the current stable kernel. With merely 8MB of RAM you
will not want X running, but otherwise for light networking typically in
amateur radio setups, the machine will be fine.
With 8MB of RAM, compiling the kernel is very slow (I'd guess around 12
hours for a 386 with 8MB of RAM), so access to a faster machine just to
compile new kernels is nice.
I'd recommend upgrading to 2.2.x. For smaller setups, Debian 2.1 or 2.2
(unstable) is my personal preference of distribution. I find it allows a
smaller install easily.
-Mike, ve1mct
