[gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
Volker Armin Hemmann volkerar...@googlemail.com writes: configuring is easy. enable the hardware you have. disable the hardware you don't have. read the help to all options that are default on - do you really need it? Really? read the help to all options that are off but might be usefull for you. change when you know it better (ondemand in, userspace governor out, performance default governor for example). do it a few times, kernel configuring becomes very easy. Well Volker... you do have a way of cutting to the chase. For me... I find the reading of the documentation a lot more confusing than you apparently do. I often know no more about what it means after reading it than before. So anyway, thanks for your input on all this. You often seem to clarify things that I had confused myself needlessly about ;)
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
Volker Armin Hemmann schrieb: On Sonntag 08 November 2009, Stroller wrote: On 7 Nov 2009, at 11:32, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: ... I'd love to know what the name of the kernel module is so I can unload it: $ zcat /proc/config.gz | grep -i pegasus CONFIG_USB_PEGASUS=y it is not a module, but compiled in. You have to rebuild your kernel. And probably decrapify your config a lot. Doh! I was fairly tired when I wrote that, sorry. I tend to just occasionally copy the kernel .config from that used on the latest Knoppix disk, and `make oldconfig` between times. I figure I don't know enough about the kernel that I'm likely to be able to select a better set of options than that, and learning what to change will surely not produce improvements worth the time expended. I would love a recommended default kernel .config - either for Gentoo or Linux in general, but based towards on small server use - but I'm not aware of anyone publishing one. I like the notion of a small, minimal and sleek kernel, but with lots of modules available to load as necessary, should I install a new PCI card. If anyone has any low-overhead suggestions, I would love to hear them. Stroller. using a livecds kernel is probably the worst decision out there. http://www.kroah.com/lkn/ as you can see, you don't have to download it. [...] You could also simply emerge it: app-doc/linux-kernel-in-a-nutshell ;) signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
Florian Philipp wrote: Volker Armin Hemmann schrieb: On Sonntag 08 November 2009, Stroller wrote: On 7 Nov 2009, at 11:32, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: ... I'd love to know what the name of the kernel module is so I can unload it: $ zcat /proc/config.gz | grep -i pegasus CONFIG_USB_PEGASUS=y it is not a module, but compiled in. You have to rebuild your kernel. And probably decrapify your config a lot. Doh! I was fairly tired when I wrote that, sorry. I tend to just occasionally copy the kernel .config from that used on the latest Knoppix disk, and `make oldconfig` between times. I figure I don't know enough about the kernel that I'm likely to be able to select a better set of options than that, and learning what to change will surely not produce improvements worth the time expended. I would love a recommended default kernel .config - either for Gentoo or Linux in general, but based towards on small server use - but I'm not aware of anyone publishing one. I like the notion of a small, minimal and sleek kernel, but with lots of modules available to load as necessary, should I install a new PCI card. If anyone has any low-overhead suggestions, I would love to hear them. Stroller. using a livecds kernel is probably the worst decision out there. http://www.kroah.com/lkn/ as you can see, you don't have to download it. [...] You could also simply emerge it: app-doc/linux-kernel-in-a-nutshell ;) If he goes to that link provided earlier, he can scroll down and download the pdf files. I found this to be the best page since it talks about building a kernel in pretty good detail. Chapter 4: Configuring and Building It even has pictures to help give a clearer picture and even shows different ways of doing the same thing. It even shows how to do this in a GUI. Do we really not have to do make modules_install any more? Dale :-) :-)
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On 8 Nov 2009, at 06:55, Dale wrote: ... I am not you, but I need maybe 5min for a config ;) and there are more benefits. Smaller binary, more cpu cache free for real data. Better performance lies that way. Also, you don't have to wonder about processes you did not start. Security is also a point. A smaller codebase in use is a saver codebase in use. A lot of bugs only affect kernels with certain features turned on - it is very relaxing if you don't have that feature... I agree. When I first installed Gentoo I had never built a kernel or even run make menuconfig. It took me three tries to get a bootable kernel but it was worth it. I don't put something in my kernel that isn't needed or that I use, well except for NTFS support. I may have to rescue my brother one day. Point being, you only have to build one good kernel then you can copy and run make oldconfig after that. I'm with Volker on this, 5 minutes at most once you get a good build. If you know your system really well, you may can start from scratch and config one in that time. You really need to learn to make your own kernel. ... Whilst I agree in principle that a good (slim?) kernel is better and your comments on that, I am sceptical whether the majority of people have the knowledge to make any significant performance or security improvements. AIUI the kernels shipped by distros like Red Hat, for instance, are configured by the very people that work on and maintain the mainline kernel tree. How can any of us simple end-users compete with that? I imagine it to be very easy for any of us normal people to enable or disable options that make significant performance impact - but we would never know it, because we're not benchtesting it or even qualified to assess proper benchtests. I cannot believe that in a day you could study this subject sufficiently to have any reasonable competence on the matter. And thus if you do spend only a day, that's wasted time. I would add that the kernel is evolving constantly, and in a year's time your knowledge - and your .config - is likely to be at least somewhat outdated. I chose to copy the .config from Knoppix because it's easy to get hold of that, but also because it's selected by someone who knows more than me, and it is likely to work with any hardware I install into my machine or connect by USB. I take Volker's point that a LiveCD .config _could_ be the worst possible choice so I'm open to alternatives, but I hope those who say I should learn to make your own kernel appreciate my points over how effectual that will be - sure, I can delete my .config and start again with `make menuconfig` and I can go through every option and read the help, and I'm sure I'll get just as good results as 80% of the people on this list, but I just don't know that that's much of an answer. Stroller.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On Sunday 08 November 2009 23:20:31 Stroller wrote: You really need to learn to make your own kernel. ... Whilst I agree in principle that a good (slim?) kernel is better and your comments on that, I am sceptical whether the majority of people have the knowledge to make any significant performance or security improvements. AIUI the kernels shipped by distros like Red Hat, for instance, are configured by the very people that work on and maintain the mainline kernel tree. How can any of us simple end-users compete with that? I imagine it to be very easy for any of us normal people to enable or disable options that make significant performance impact - but we would never know it, because we're not benchtesting it or even qualified to assess proper benchtests. I cannot believe that in a day you could study this subject sufficiently to have any reasonable competence on the matter. And thus if you do spend only a day, that's wasted time. I would add that the kernel is evolving constantly, and in a year's time your knowledge - and your .config - is likely to be at least somewhat outdated. I chose to copy the .config from Knoppix because it's easy to get hold of that, but also because it's selected by someone who knows more than me, and it is likely to work with any hardware I install into my machine or connect by USB. I take Volker's point that a LiveCD .config could be the worst possible choice so I'm open to alternatives, but I hope those who say I should learn to make your own kernel appreciate my points over how effectual that will be - sure, I can delete my .config and start again with `make menuconfig` and I can go through every option and read the help, and I'm sure I'll get just as good results as 80% of the people on this list, but I just don't know that that's much of an answer. You are reading way more into the subject than is actually there. Red Hat employees do work on mainline and do write kernel code. But finding a bug, writing new code and fixing security exploits are very different activities to simply configuring the code that is there. And that is what RH do - they take the code that is already there, apply whatever backport and experimental patches suits their distro, then go through menuconfig switching some things on and some things off. Their needs are different to yours - they need their kernel to run on just about any hardware on the planet, so they build a horrendously complex initrd with support for every known boot device, then build every module that even half-way works. And also enable every known kernel sub-system (because someone somewhere is going to use it). By your analogy, you might consider Red Hat more qualified than you to decide if you should build an MTA with or without LDAP support. Which is of course patently ridiculous - if you know you need LDAP then you need it. Otherwise you don't (and this is not a security issue, it's a features issue) If you configure your own kernel, you only need build the bits you use. The sole benefit for a Gentoo users to using a custom distro kernel is support for things not in mainline (like some entire FibreChannel product ranges out there). But please note that even if you copy an RH .config, you do not have those patches to hand so you will not get those extra features. Unless you patched the ebuild yourself, in which case you are already au-fait with building a kernel and we would not be having this discussion. In summary, I hear your reasoning and understand your concerns. But it is flawed and you are worried about something that is not actually there. -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
Alan McKinnon wrote: On Sunday 08 November 2009 23:20:31 Stroller wrote: You really need to learn to make your own kernel. ... Whilst I agree in principle that a good (slim?) kernel is better and your comments on that, I am sceptical whether the majority of people have the knowledge to make any significant performance or security improvements. AIUI the kernels shipped by distros like Red Hat, for instance, are configured by the very people that work on and maintain the mainline kernel tree. How can any of us simple end-users compete with that? I imagine it to be very easy for any of us normal people to enable or disable options that make significant performance impact - but we would never know it, because we're not benchtesting it or even qualified to assess proper benchtests. I cannot believe that in a day you could study this subject sufficiently to have any reasonable competence on the matter. And thus if you do spend only a day, that's wasted time. I would add that the kernel is evolving constantly, and in a year's time your knowledge - and your .config - is likely to be at least somewhat outdated. I chose to copy the .config from Knoppix because it's easy to get hold of that, but also because it's selected by someone who knows more than me, and it is likely to work with any hardware I install into my machine or connect by USB. I take Volker's point that a LiveCD .config could be the worst possible choice so I'm open to alternatives, but I hope those who say I should learn to make your own kernel appreciate my points over how effectual that will be - sure, I can delete my .config and start again with `make menuconfig` and I can go through every option and read the help, and I'm sure I'll get just as good results as 80% of the people on this list, but I just don't know that that's much of an answer. You are reading way more into the subject than is actually there. Red Hat employees do work on mainline and do write kernel code. But finding a bug, writing new code and fixing security exploits are very different activities to simply configuring the code that is there. And that is what RH do - they take the code that is already there, apply whatever backport and experimental patches suits their distro, then go through menuconfig switching some things on and some things off. Their needs are different to yours - they need their kernel to run on just about any hardware on the planet, so they build a horrendously complex initrd with support for every known boot device, then build every module that even half-way works. And also enable every known kernel sub-system (because someone somewhere is going to use it). By your analogy, you might consider Red Hat more qualified than you to decide if you should build an MTA with or without LDAP support. Which is of course patently ridiculous - if you know you need LDAP then you need it. Otherwise you don't (and this is not a security issue, it's a features issue) If you configure your own kernel, you only need build the bits you use. The sole benefit for a Gentoo users to using a custom distro kernel is support for things not in mainline (like some entire FibreChannel product ranges out there). But please note that even if you copy an RH .config, you do not have those patches to hand so you will not get those extra features. Unless you patched the ebuild yourself, in which case you are already au-fait with building a kernel and we would not be having this discussion. In summary, I hear your reasoning and understand your concerns. But it is flawed and you are worried about something that is not actually there. What he said plus this little tidbit of info. When I built my first kernel, I had no howto except for the basic instructions in the Gentoo install guide. This was about 6 years or so ago and there was not a lot on configuring a kernel except for the options Gentoo needed. It took me three tries to get one to boot and work pretty well and all of a hour at most. A lot of that hour was compiling the kernel. You seem to think it takes a rocket scientist to build a kernel, it doesn't. You just have to know what hardware you have and then enable the features you need. Once you get a good one built, using make oldconfig works really well. You can config a kernel in less than five minutes most likely then compile and you are done. If you update fairly regular, make oldconfig will work fine and not cause you the trouble you had in the beginning. Dale :-) :-)
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On Monday 09 November 2009 00:20:45 Dale wrote: What he said plus this little tidbit of info. When I built my first kernel, I had no howto except for the basic instructions in the Gentoo install guide. This was about 6 years or so ago and there was not a lot on configuring a kernel except for the options Gentoo needed. It took me three tries to get one to boot and work pretty well and all of a hour at most. A lot of that hour was compiling the kernel. Three tries Dale? Only three? You deserve a medal for that. My first attempt took at least 10 goes ;-) -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On 8 Nov 2009, at 22:20, Dale wrote: ... You seem to think it takes a rocket scientist to build a kernel, it doesn't. You just have to know what hardware you have and then enable the features you need. ... You can config a kernel in less than five minutes most likely then compile and you are done. Thus we get 30-post long threads titled kernel build - back in the soup. Sure, I might on this occasion prefer that this pegasus driver wasn't compiled statically into the kernel, but only because it _confused_ me (nothing more). Far more frequently I want to install Linux on a new box or plug in a new piece of hardware and not have to worry about what driver it uses - I just want the module to be there and to auto- load. Any time I spend messing with obscure kernel config options is time I could be spending reading a good book, instead [1]. Sorry, spending time configuring my kernel loses, as does this thread. Stroller. [1] Feel free to spend with your kids, lying on a beach, skiing, or whatever, as alternatives.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On Monday 09 November 2009 00:41:08 Stroller wrote: Any time I spend messing with obscure kernel config options is time I could be spending reading a good book, instead [1]. Sorry, spending time configuring my kernel loses, as does this thread. And yet you use gentoo Considering what gentoo is and how one interfaces with it, should you not rather be using a binary distro where someone else does the heavy lifting? Something like Fedora, OpenSuse, Ubuntu? -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
Alan McKinnon wrote: On Monday 09 November 2009 00:20:45 Dale wrote: What he said plus this little tidbit of info. When I built my first kernel, I had no howto except for the basic instructions in the Gentoo install guide. This was about 6 years or so ago and there was not a lot on configuring a kernel except for the options Gentoo needed. It took me three tries to get one to boot and work pretty well and all of a hour at most. A lot of that hour was compiling the kernel. Three tries Dale? Only three? You deserve a medal for that. My first attempt took at least 10 goes ;-) I didn't say it was perfect, I said it booted and worked pretty well. Now getting the sensors, USB and some other odds and ends took a few more. Once I got booted tho, I was ginning pretty good. You also have to keep in mind, my system is not real complicated. Basically, chipset, file system, and sound card to start with. USB was the fun one. I have to have one USB driver for my printer and another for my camera. One is the old style USB 1 and the other is USB 2 or something to that effect. Point to the OP tho, once I had a good running kernel, make oldconfig worked for years. I did have to build one from scratch a year or so because things changed drastically and oldconfig got confused. So basically, I have had to build from scratch twice in the last 5 or 6 years. I think that shows oldconfig works pretty good. I do find this funny tho. Someone spends the better part of a day installing Gentoo but doesn't think building their own kernel is worth it. Most compiles take longer to finish than configing a kernel. Dale :-) :-)
[gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
Stroller strol...@stellar.eclipse.co.uk writes: Any time I spend messing with obscure kernel config options is time I could be spending reading a good book, instead [1]. Sorry, spending time configuring my kernel loses, as does this thread. I'm with you Stroller. Although I do have to admit and should admit since I'm OP on this thread. If I had of inserted the .config from running kernel. I would have been done on the first try.. The dozen or so questions were nearly all no answers. A few didn't default the way I wanted so I didn't accept the default... maybe two were like that. I fully agree with your point about what it really takes to `know' how to configure a kernel. People get a little too much mileage from the breezy ` I do it in 5 minutes' line. When all they really did was move the .config file.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:02:34 +0100, Dale rdalek1...@gmail.com wrote: Alan McKinnon wrote: On Monday 09 November 2009 00:20:45 Dale wrote: What he said plus this little tidbit of info. When I built my first kernel, I had no howto except for the basic instructions in the Gentoo install guide. This was about 6 years or so ago and there was not a lot on configuring a kernel except for the options Gentoo needed. It took me three tries to get one to boot and work pretty well and all of a hour at most. A lot of that hour was compiling the kernel. Three tries Dale? Only three? You deserve a medal for that. My first attempt took at least 10 goes ;-) I didn't say it was perfect, I said it booted and worked pretty well. Now getting the sensors, USB and some other odds and ends took a few more. Once I got booted tho, I was ginning pretty good. You also have to keep in mind, my system is not real complicated. Basically, chipset, file system, and sound card to start with. USB was the fun one. I have to have one USB driver for my printer and another for my camera. One is the old style USB 1 and the other is USB 2 or something to that effect. Point to the OP tho, once I had a good running kernel, make oldconfig worked for years. I did have to build one from scratch a year or so because things changed drastically and oldconfig got confused. So basically, I have had to build from scratch twice in the last 5 or 6 years. I think that shows oldconfig works pretty good. I do find this funny tho. Someone spends the better part of a day installing Gentoo but doesn't think building their own kernel is worth it. Most compiles take longer to finish than configing a kernel. Dale :-) :-) I can only speak for myself, but part of what makes the gentoo experience for me is knowing that my kernel, software etc. is built to my basic needs. And building and configuring a kernel really doesn't take as much time as you might spend on various unnecessary pursuits (ie. reading webcomics, articles that can wait, reading the news that'll be broadcasted to you later through a tv-news programme). But as others have said, if you're not interested in spending time on making it tick, and just want an easy fix, then go for a binary distro. Of course, if you decide to read the book, well then, there's the off chance that you might just find it interesting and read it, not because it can be useful, but because it sparks your interest. And no, configuring a kernel from scratch doesn't (take me) 5 minutes, but the half hour it does take, are well spent. -- Zeerak
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On Monday 09 November 2009 01:02:34 Dale wrote: I do find this funny tho. Someone spends the better part of a day installing Gentoo but doesn't think building their own kernel is worth it. Most compiles take longer to finish than configing a kernel. Here's a funnier one: I've actually seen posts from people who think nothing of running emerge -e world in an attempt to fix some perceived problem. And they do it often. In the next breath they say they prefer gedit because all that bash stuff is complicated. I dunno, I just don't. It looks too much like a mechanic who has deep issues with the design of spanners. -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On 8 Nov 2009, at 23:02, Dale wrote: ... I do find this funny tho. Someone spends the better part of a day installing Gentoo ... You're doing it wrong. ... Most compiles take longer to finish than configing a kernel. I personally don't spend time sitting there watching the progress of compilations. I run them, ignore them, so back when they're finished. Stroller.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
first kernel I configured and 'maked' myself was 2.2.14 and I was scared. When it finaly booted and everything worked I was overjoyed. I wad even more overjoyed when it performed a lot better than Suse's 2.2.10... which was a bit swap-happy.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On Montag 09 November 2009, Harry Putnam wrote: Stroller strol...@stellar.eclipse.co.uk writes: Any time I spend messing with obscure kernel config options is time I could be spending reading a good book, instead [1]. Sorry, spending time configuring my kernel loses, as does this thread. I'm with you Stroller. Although I do have to admit and should admit since I'm OP on this thread. If I had of inserted the .config from running kernel. I would have been done on the first try.. The dozen or so questions were nearly all no answers. A few didn't default the way I wanted so I didn't accept the default... maybe two were like that. I fully agree with your point about what it really takes to `know' how to configure a kernel. People get a little too much mileage from the breezy ` I do it in 5 minutes' line. When all they really did was move the .config file. configuring is easy. enable the hardware you have. disable the hardware you don't have. read the help to all options that are default on - do you really need it? Really? read the help to all options that are off but might be usefull for you. change when you know it better (ondemand in, userspace governor out, performance default governor for example). do it a few times, kernel configuring becomes very easy.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
Harry Putnam wrote: Stroller strol...@stellar.eclipse.co.uk writes: Any time I spend messing with obscure kernel config options is time I could be spending reading a good book, instead [1]. Sorry, spending time configuring my kernel loses, as does this thread. I'm with you Stroller. Although I do have to admit and should admit since I'm OP on this thread. If I had of inserted the .config from running kernel. I would have been done on the first try.. The dozen or so questions were nearly all no answers. A few didn't default the way I wanted so I didn't accept the default... maybe two were like that. I fully agree with your point about what it really takes to `know' how to configure a kernel. People get a little too much mileage from the breezy ` I do it in 5 minutes' line. When all they really did was move the .config file. Maybe 20 minutes if you don't just move the .config tho. It's not that hard to do. Heck, the hardest part to me is finding out what chips is on cards and stuff. I usually do that before I but tho. I like the zoom feature on newegg for that reason. You can read what chips are on drive controllers and such. Then you know what drivers to use and whether it will work or not. I could probably config mine now in less than ten minutes since I know my hardware. Dale :-) :-)
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On Monday 09 November 2009 01:21:24 Stroller wrote: And yet you use gentoo Considering what gentoo is and how one interfaces with it, should you not rather be using a binary distro where someone else does the heavy lifting? Something like Fedora, OpenSuse, Ubuntu? Not at all. Are you taking this discussion combatively? Not at all. I just find it odd that you use gentoo by choice, get to grips with defining *exactly* what you need and want, take steps to do just that, do it, and then don't do it with the kernel. In fact, you do the opposite. -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On 8 Nov 2009, at 22:51, Alan McKinnon wrote: On Monday 09 November 2009 00:41:08 Stroller wrote: Any time I spend messing with obscure kernel config options is time I could be spending reading a good book, instead [1]. Sorry, spending time configuring my kernel loses, as does this thread. And yet you use gentoo Considering what gentoo is and how one interfaces with it, should you not rather be using a binary distro where someone else does the heavy lifting? Something like Fedora, OpenSuse, Ubuntu? Not at all. Are you taking this discussion combatively? I like Gentoo, I'm used to it, familiar with it (at least fairly so), I find it easy. When I've tried other distros I've found myself wasting time for various reasons. I find CLI configuration reassuring - this is basically why I switched away from Windows - because at the command line I know that an operation has performed successfully, instead of having to rely on a checkbox which is supposed to work like magic. I suspect that, ultimately, it's the USE flags that save me time. If I have to recompile _by hand_ just one or two programs because a binary distro doesn't include the options I need, or because it adds GUI dependencies which I don't want cluttering up my headless server, then that is probably a bigger waste of my time than using Gentoo. Remember that if I do that I also have to manage those packages manually, check for updates, worry about them getting clobbered by the distro's own updates, have hassle when other installed packages demand a dependency which I have fulfilled with this manual installation. What do you think is demanding or time-wasting about Gentoo? I just don't see why I should spend time messing with something, just because you (or Volker or anyone, not to make this personal) doesn't like the way it looks. When it works perfectly! Stroller.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
Stroller wrote: On 8 Nov 2009, at 23:02, Dale wrote: ... I do find this funny tho. Someone spends the better part of a day installing Gentoo ... You're doing it wrong. Nope, older puter. I've installed Gentoo quite a few times. I have done it without a install guide before. I've even done it over shh all the way around the world. ... Most compiles take longer to finish than configing a kernel. I personally don't spend time sitting there watching the progress of compilations. I run them, ignore them, so back when they're finished. Stroller. I don't either. While one thing is compiling, I'm on another console doing something else like getting the network ready or whatever else can be done. Again, I have installed Gentoo a few times. Dale :-) :-)
[gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On 7 Nov 2009, at 11:32, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: ... I'd love to know what the name of the kernel module is so I can unload it: $ zcat /proc/config.gz | grep -i pegasus CONFIG_USB_PEGASUS=y it is not a module, but compiled in. You have to rebuild your kernel. And probably decrapify your config a lot. Doh! I was fairly tired when I wrote that, sorry. I tend to just occasionally copy the kernel .config from that used on the latest Knoppix disk, and `make oldconfig` between times. I figure I don't know enough about the kernel that I'm likely to be able to select a better set of options than that, and learning what to change will surely not produce improvements worth the time expended. I would love a recommended default kernel .config - either for Gentoo or Linux in general, but based towards on small server use - but I'm not aware of anyone publishing one. I like the notion of a small, minimal and sleek kernel, but with lots of modules available to load as necessary, should I install a new PCI card. If anyone has any low-overhead suggestions, I would love to hear them. Stroller.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On Sonntag 08 November 2009, Stroller wrote: On 7 Nov 2009, at 11:32, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: ... I'd love to know what the name of the kernel module is so I can unload it: $ zcat /proc/config.gz | grep -i pegasus CONFIG_USB_PEGASUS=y it is not a module, but compiled in. You have to rebuild your kernel. And probably decrapify your config a lot. Doh! I was fairly tired when I wrote that, sorry. I tend to just occasionally copy the kernel .config from that used on the latest Knoppix disk, and `make oldconfig` between times. I figure I don't know enough about the kernel that I'm likely to be able to select a better set of options than that, and learning what to change will surely not produce improvements worth the time expended. I would love a recommended default kernel .config - either for Gentoo or Linux in general, but based towards on small server use - but I'm not aware of anyone publishing one. I like the notion of a small, minimal and sleek kernel, but with lots of modules available to load as necessary, should I install a new PCI card. If anyone has any low-overhead suggestions, I would love to hear them. Stroller. using a livecds kernel is probably the worst decision out there. http://www.kroah.com/lkn/ as you can see, you don't have to download it. Or just do it step for step, reading help files. seccomp? Except Andrea Arcangeli nobody uses it. Can be deactivated. I2O? Almost nobody uses it. Especially not 'commodity' hardware, out it goes. Numa? Do you have a multi-socket system? No? Then you don't need it. ... you can remove a lot of cruft that way. Namespaces - you don't need it? Kick 'em out. Group scheduling? Sure, a great way to reduce performance... ...
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On 8 Nov 2009, at 00:10, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: ... using a livecds kernel is probably the worst decision out there. http://www.kroah.com/lkn/ as you can see, you don't have to download it. Or just do it step for step, reading help files. seccomp? Except Andrea Arcangeli nobody uses it. Can be deactivated. I2O? Almost nobody uses it. Especially not 'commodity' hardware, out it goes. Numa? Do you have a multi-socket system? No? Then you don't need it. ... you can remove a lot of cruft that way. Namespaces - you don't need it? Kick 'em out. Group scheduling? Sure, a great way to reduce performance... But Volker, if it takes me an hour to decrapify my kernel config and make it faster, it will probably take 1000 years for those speed improvements to pay off. If I had unlimited time then I would love to read that book. I really LIKE the idea of decrapifying my kernel config. But realistically, any time I spend on it is time wasted, for which no difference will be appreciable. Stroller.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
On Sonntag 08 November 2009, Stroller wrote: On 8 Nov 2009, at 00:10, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: ... using a livecds kernel is probably the worst decision out there. http://www.kroah.com/lkn/ as you can see, you don't have to download it. Or just do it step for step, reading help files. seccomp? Except Andrea Arcangeli nobody uses it. Can be deactivated. I2O? Almost nobody uses it. Especially not 'commodity' hardware, out it goes. Numa? Do you have a multi-socket system? No? Then you don't need it. ... you can remove a lot of cruft that way. Namespaces - you don't need it? Kick 'em out. Group scheduling? Sure, a great way to reduce performance... But Volker, if it takes me an hour to decrapify my kernel config and make it faster, it will probably take 1000 years for those speed improvements to pay off. If I had unlimited time then I would love to read that book. I really LIKE the idea of decrapifying my kernel config. But realistically, any time I spend on it is time wasted, for which no difference will be appreciable. Stroller. I am not you, but I need maybe 5min for a config ;) and there are more benefits. Smaller binary, more cpu cache free for real data. Better performance lies that way. Also, you don't have to wonder about processes you did not start. Security is also a point. A smaller codebase in use is a saver codebase in use. A lot of bugs only affect kernels with certain features turned on - it is very relaxing if you don't have that feature...
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: decrapify your kernel config WAS: ps shows pegasus process running - what is it?
Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: On Sonntag 08 November 2009, Stroller wrote: On 8 Nov 2009, at 00:10, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: ... using a livecds kernel is probably the worst decision out there. http://www.kroah.com/lkn/ as you can see, you don't have to download it. Or just do it step for step, reading help files. seccomp? Except Andrea Arcangeli nobody uses it. Can be deactivated. I2O? Almost nobody uses it. Especially not 'commodity' hardware, out it goes. Numa? Do you have a multi-socket system? No? Then you don't need it. ... you can remove a lot of cruft that way. Namespaces - you don't need it? Kick 'em out. Group scheduling? Sure, a great way to reduce performance... But Volker, if it takes me an hour to decrapify my kernel config and make it faster, it will probably take 1000 years for those speed improvements to pay off. If I had unlimited time then I would love to read that book. I really LIKE the idea of decrapifying my kernel config. But realistically, any time I spend on it is time wasted, for which no difference will be appreciable. Stroller. I am not you, but I need maybe 5min for a config ;) and there are more benefits. Smaller binary, more cpu cache free for real data. Better performance lies that way. Also, you don't have to wonder about processes you did not start. Security is also a point. A smaller codebase in use is a saver codebase in use. A lot of bugs only affect kernels with certain features turned on - it is very relaxing if you don't have that feature... I agree. When I first installed Gentoo I had never built a kernel or even run make menuconfig. It took me three tries to get a bootable kernel but it was worth it. I don't put something in my kernel that isn't needed or that I use, well except for NTFS support. I may have to rescue my brother one day. Point being, you only have to build one good kernel then you can copy and run make oldconfig after that. I'm with Volker on this, 5 minutes at most once you get a good build. If you know your system really well, you may can start from scratch and config one in that time. You really need to learn to make your own kernel. After all, it's the first file your computer loads when the OS starts booting up. It's also the first level of security. It is what deals with all the hardware on the most basic level. You also get to see your head swell when you get a lean kernel and say I did that. Dale :-) :-)
