On Wed, 2004-09-01 at 23:23, Andrew Konosky wrote: > I have been installing the kernel rpms with yum/synaptic, but I have > read that the "vanilla" kernels, which I am guessing are the original > source-code versions, have more features, but are sometimes less stable > becuase thet are not edited for specific distributions. Is this correct? > > I would like to compile the latest kernel version from source just to > see how it's done and also to see if the "vanilla" kernel is stable > enough for my system. Once it is compiled, will I have to manually add > the kernel to the grub config file? Any tips/tricks I should know about > when compiling a custom kernel? I have found it useful to read the README file in the root of the kernel sources tar file. It includes information about applying kernel patches. Also, the file Documentation/Changes has things like minimum revisions required for compiling and running a specific kernel. It's a good idea to check out the makefile in the root (of the kernel sources) as well. Set EXTRAVERSION on line 4 to something unique so you don't overwrite any of your existing modules directories. I think the install target still uses lilo by default, but I believe it gives you the option of having your own installkernel script, and you may want to uncomment where it sets INSTALL_PATH. If you happen to be following the work of a specific developer because of what you've read in lkml or elsewhere, you can usually find their patches in /pub/linux/kernel/people on kernel.org. Enjoy! -- C. Linus Hicks <lhicks@xxxxxxxxx>
