Neil Bothwick wrote:
When you compile a kernel
manually, you choose which modules you need in the kernel, build those in
and either leave the rest out or compile them as separate modules.
Genkernel is intended to make things easier, and it may do when things
work as they should, but I find it makes life more difficult when
anything goes wrong. Building a kernel manually is not rocket science, it
is easier in the long run.
A lot of people have said not to use genkernel over the past months, but
I'm going to be one to stand up for it. It is a very customisable tool
and I find it very useful for all my kernel needs.
When you compile a kernel with genkernel, you too are able to configure
the kernel by selecting which modules to compile in or leave out simply
by specifying the --menuconfig option. I prefer the way it handles
config files by storing them in /etc/kernels after a successful build.
Next time you build that kernel revision, it will pick the config out
from that directory by default.
ls /etc/kernels/
kernel-config-x86-2.6.13-rc6-mm2 kernel-config-x86-2.6.15-rc5-mm1
All you have to make sure of is that the filenames match, so if you
upgrade the kernel revision you just have to copy the previous kernel
config to match the name of your new kernel revision and build the new
kernel. After running genkernel I end up with the same kernel that I
would had I 'compiled it manually', I don't build the initrd as I don't
require it. Like an automated script it has simply just run the steps
while I'm off annoying my brother :D I've used genkernel for a fair bit
now and not a single problem and a seamless transition from devfs to udev.
The problems with genkernel generally come from using the default
configuration and initrd, which you don't require with a correctly
configured kernel. I'm sure there would be problems also if you didn't
alter the original configuration when compiling the kernel manually.
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