kernel curiousity
Message
kernel curiousity
When you build a gentoo kernel you sift through and select the things you want to include, when using Ubuntu you plug in whatever device and if there is kernel support in linux for it usually it works. This isn't a slight against gentoo, I am asking about this principle as a whole. So what I am asking is, is the ubuntu kernel just much larger as a consequence of having so many more binaries?
- dave-gallagher
- n00b
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:01 am
Last edited by dave-gallagher on Fri Jan 13, 2023 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Having not looked too hard at Ubuntu, I'll hazard a guess.
You can build a "generic" kernel. That's what most distributions do, something that works with almost all the hardware the "customer" might use. That's the genkernel approach, and I suspect it's the Ubuntu approach too. You can avoid a huge kernel by installing nearly everything as modules, and make everything automatically load when necessary. If you just want whatever it is to work right away, then that approach is the least amount of trouble. Ubuntu is built around the ease-of-use concept, and Gentoo is not.
My objection to that approach is that, if I don't use a certain feature then it is (might be) a security hole through which somebody might exploit my system, or at the very least it is a bit of extra junk hanging around on my system that I don't need or want. The reason I used Gentoo at all, is because I want to decide what goes on the drive, including which things the kernel has support for. For example, I have a sound card but have no reason to use it. So I don't compile support for that in my kernel, and don't have any sound-related software on my disk. Same thing with the on-board video card, I use an LCD monitor with a DVI card, that's all the OS knows about. If something freaky happens that exploits (insert your favorite driver here) then my not having that driver means I don't have the problem.
You can build a "generic" kernel. That's what most distributions do, something that works with almost all the hardware the "customer" might use. That's the genkernel approach, and I suspect it's the Ubuntu approach too. You can avoid a huge kernel by installing nearly everything as modules, and make everything automatically load when necessary. If you just want whatever it is to work right away, then that approach is the least amount of trouble. Ubuntu is built around the ease-of-use concept, and Gentoo is not.
My objection to that approach is that, if I don't use a certain feature then it is (might be) a security hole through which somebody might exploit my system, or at the very least it is a bit of extra junk hanging around on my system that I don't need or want. The reason I used Gentoo at all, is because I want to decide what goes on the drive, including which things the kernel has support for. For example, I have a sound card but have no reason to use it. So I don't compile support for that in my kernel, and don't have any sound-related software on my disk. Same thing with the on-board video card, I use an LCD monitor with a DVI card, that's all the OS knows about. If something freaky happens that exploits (insert your favorite driver here) then my not having that driver means I don't have the problem.
- dave-gallagher
- n00b
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:01 am
Last edited by dave-gallagher on Fri Jan 13, 2023 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
And yet, you learn so much more about Linux by doing it.. rather than point and clickravalox wrote:It's a shame the price is an archaic and ultimately usage deterring installation process.
Besides, you can always just write an install script for the install (think I've even seen some floating around the forums here).