Since I'm responsible for starting this, I guess I'll add my comments
after seeing the replies. First thanks to all of you for your input.
I am a hardware engineer, so I do have an understanding of what goes
on inside a PC. I use to re-compile the kernel often, but after it
became more modular I stopped. Although I like to configure and try
new things, re-compiling a kernel is not where I want to spend a lot
of time to save a few or even 100K of RAM.
Re-compiling a kernel is not that difficult once you have a config
file that works. I think it would be great to have a tool create a
config file from the current working kernel. Maybe that tool exists
and I don't know about it. I downloaded the source tarball yesterday
and played with compiling it on my pc at work. Not my home pc where I
am having the problems. I haven't opened the box of my work pc, so I'm
not exactly sure of what is inside. After a few tries, I still don't
have a working kernel. I'm sure I can correct this, but it will take a
couple of more tries. I'm missing devpts and I have to find the
CONFIG_PACKET (Packet socket) and CONFIG_FILTER options in the IP area
I guess. And some other usb stuff seems to be missing.
It seems to me that it wouldn't be that difficult for the people at
Mandrake to create rpms for the updated kernels. I guess there is
always the danger that the new kernel will break something so it has
to be qualified. But kernel updates can be required for hardware
reasons, so I believe it would be worthwhile for them to do this for
their customers.
One of the biggest problems I have had with Mandrake is getting rpms
for packages I want. It seems as soon as a release is made, people
stop creating rpms for that release and start working on rpms for the
next release (currently cooker) that may or may not work with current
release. My machine at work is still 7.1, because the 7.2 install
fails, which after running 7.2 at home, may be a good thing :-). Since
7.1 is based on version 3 of rpm, there are even more rpms that I
can't install. No one creates rpms for 7.1 anymore. Well ok some do
like helix gnome. I am seriously thinking of trying a debian based
distro. I hear the debian updater is far superior. We all know how
well the MandrakeUpdate works!
Just my 0.02 and I'll be waiting for the 2.2.19 rpms.
Steve
Dave writes:
> PMFJI (a long lost acronym from my Compuserve [gah!] days ... Pardon Me
> For Jumping In), but......
> In the last 12 hours there was discussion on the security-discuss
> list where Vincent mentionned that, due a security hole in 2.2.18 and
> below, they were preparing 2.2.19 kernel rpms for LM 7.2. Any delay would
> be due to the fact that it's a lot of work (the new kernels will be
> needed for LM 6.0 to 7.0, as well as Corporate Server), and they are
> waiting on some 3rd party patches.
>
> This would be a great kernel rpm upgrade as 2.2.18 and up (thanks
> to Alan Cox & friends) contains tons of the goodies that were first
> introduced onto 2.4.x. I believe there is some merrit in wanting to stick
> with Mandrake kernel rpms as there are patches included that, AFAIK,
> enhance the Mandrake distribution as a whole. This is *not* to say that
> compiling your own kernel is a bad idea; indeed it's a wonderful
> experience, and done properly, rebooting into the original kernel should
> be trivial. On a system with limited hardware resources, or a system that
> serves a specific duty, then a custom kernel is the way to go, if only for
> the principle of the whole thing; this is Linux after all :-).
>
> Peace
> Dave.
>
> On 28-Mar-2001 Marc wrote:
> > I do not agree with your statement that kernel loads them all...
> >
> > Most kernels that are in the binary RPM use modules. I tried to make
> > my ownb kernel a few times but it only saved me about 50k or so. It's
> > not worth all the trouble (unless you really have a shortage of RAM in
> > your system). The modules will only be loaded if they are needed. You
> > can see the modules that are loaded with lsmod. You see that not
> > everything is loaded then, but only a few modules.
> >
> > Modules are one of the strongest features of the linux kernel so why
> > not use it. Recompiling the whole thing is only needed when you need
> > something really special. In 95% of the cases you can just install the
> > kernel rpm and load the system. I don't believe that a custom kernel is
> > really faster then a customized kernel.
> >
> > Marc
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "FreezeR" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 3:32 AM
> > Subject: Re: [expert] where to get kernel upgrades for 7.2
> >
> >
> >> i think for a kernel upgrade you should compile the source by ur self
> >> not from the rpm...
> >> download the new kernel at www.kernel.org
> >> unpack the kernel, and go into the kernel directory
> >> make menuconfig
> >> make dep
> >> make clean
> >> make bzImage
> >> make bzlilo
> >> then edit your lilo.conf
> >>
> >> one of the reason why people do a kernel upgrade is to optimized their
> >> kernel...
> >> there are many options that your system dont need, but unfortunately
> >> the kernel load'em all if we boot the machine....
> >> so..take sometimes to compile your kernel...
> >> trust me it wont useless at all...
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, 27 Mar 2001, Steven Taetzsch wrote:
> >>
> >> > Where do I find kernel rpms for 7.2, not cooker? I've downloaded 2.4
> >> > rpms, but they have other dependencies required. I didn't want to
> >> > get
> >> > into a chain of this package requires this update which requires
> >> > this
> >> > update and so on. I just want to upgrade to 2.2.18 or 2.4 on my
> >> > stock
> >> > 7.2 system.
> >> >
> >> > My usb zip drive works fine on 7.1 with an upgrade to 2.2.16-9mdk,
> >> > but
> >> > doesn't work on my 7.2 machine. I thought I'd try a newer kernel
> >> > with
> >> > better usb support.
> >> >
> >> > Steve
>
>
> ---------
> 28-Mar-2001
> 03:28:59
> ---------
