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Fitzsimmons
Guru
Joined: 01 Jan 2003
Posts: 415
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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 Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 10:49 pm Post subject: What is the difference between builtin and module? |
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I am at the part in the installation where I am choosing options for the kernel. I have done this before, and it is pretty easy, but something I have always wondered: what is the difference between builtin and modules? I know that with a module you can basically add and remove kernel options and support without needing to recompile. However, for what reason would someone not want this? Do you loose proformance speed, or something else that could be potentally damaging in the future if you don't compile builtin?
Thanks for your help. |
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David_Escott
l33t
Joined: 12 Jan 2003
Posts: 952
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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just use modules, some more security paranoid persons would claim that modules are a risk (but you have to be root to load modules so ...) and some extreme performance freaks would say modules are better (but the difference would be minimal)
The only case where modules are bad is if you have to have a module to get some basic functionality such as a scsi drive with /sbin on it in which case you need the scsi module before you can access the modutils in /sbin
(I shouldn't say they are bad thats not really fair its just a little less convenient) |
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steveb
Advocate
Joined: 18 Sep 2002
Posts: 4564
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| Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2003 2:03 am Post subject: Re: What is the difference between builtin and module? |
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| ssjf wrote: | I am at the part in the installation where I am choosing options for the kernel. I have done this before, and it is pretty easy, but something I have always wondered: what is the difference between builtin and modules? I know that with a module you can basically add and remove kernel options and support without needing to recompile. However, for what reason would someone not want this? Do you loose proformance speed, or something else that could be potentally damaging in the future if you don't compile builtin?
Thanks for your help. |
buildin means, that it is build into the kernel and module means, that you can load and unload it during normal runtime.
if you build something as a module, then you have much more flexibility then if you would build it directly into the kernel.
if you build something into the kernel and this peace of code is not bullet proof, then normaly it will crash your complete system (not allways, but the chance is higher then if it would be a module), where the module would probably crash only it self and not touch the kernel.
building it directly into the kernel, would as well increase your memory usage (because everything gets loaded by the kernel) but has probably a very small speed advantage over a module (because the kernel loads everything at the beginning and later it does not need to read the disc for each and every module it wants to load. and normaly you boot the kernel in compressed format, wich is a speed increasement as well [except if your computer is very very slow]).
however... i would build the most important stuff directly into the kernel and build everything else you may load from time to time (aka: some special peace of hardware, wich you do not need daily) as a module.
cheers
SteveB |
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int1
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 08 Nov 2002
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Installing Gentoo
