[GRLUG] Meeting agenda?

[Tim Schmidt]

On 10/11/06, Justin Denick <justin.denick at gmail.com> wrote:
> Regardless of what your distro may or may not come with, learning about the
> kernel would make for a very informative lecture. So often, users rely on
> apt to to their bidding, and that's fine. But some of us want to know why it
> works and what could make it stop working.
>
> I build my own kernels for many reasons:
> 1) I don't use modules unless I absolutely must, and even then I complain.
> 2) I don't need to support the hardware I don't own or will never buy
> 3) I like to know what's going on
> 4) When a problem comes up, I don't want to rely on solutions like:
> "reinstall the package"
>
> So I say we keep the Kernel Building lecture alive.
> I would give the presentation, but I must admit there are many on this list
> who know volumes more than I do; I'm probably still a newb.

Sure...  I'm not opposed to the kernel presentation...  Just pointing
out that building a kernel isn't a common task for most people any
more.  When I started using Linux in 1998, building a custom kernel
for each and every install of Linux was almost the expected norm.
Now, even most 'bleeding edge' hardware like SATA controllers, 10
gigabit ethernet, and crazy Taiwanese rebranded ultra-generic hardware
X work out of the box.  Even when hotplugged :)

As far as your reasons go...  There are some pertinent counterpoints:

1) The only reason I can think of to be weary of modules is a
bordering-on-paranoia fear of rootkits...  quite a few load as
modules.  However, a few that I know of use only /dev/kmem or similar
to bootstrap themselves into kernel-space - no module support needed.
Otherwise, modules are functionally identical to compiled-in drivers.

2) Unless you, for some crazy reason :), buy it.  Hard to tell a year
or three in advance.

3) Me too.

4) Have you had to do this?  I've never had to re-install a kernel
package.  I've had to adjust GRUB / LILO's configuration more times
than I can count, I've had to re-compile an out-of-tree module or two
against a new kernel version, I've re-built initrds, etc...  Probably
because I can do all those things, and know which to do when, and why,
that I haven't had to [reinstall a kernel package].  Good fodder for a
presentation probably.

--tim