On 15 Aug 00, at 12:01, Jeff Hogg wrote:
> From: Stephen Liu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Kindly assist me to understand the function of following terms
> >found and applied in "make menuconfig"
> >
> >- What will be the major difference between selecting <*> /yes and
> > <M> /module
>
> If you select the */yes, that feature will be included in the
> compiled kernel. If you select module for that feature, it will be
> compiled into a loadable module. If the feature is in the kernel,
> it increases the size of the kernel a bit, but can reduce headaches
> when you include those things you will need to have at all times.
> For example, you probably want to have the ext2 filesystem code in
> your kernel, since you will rarely not be using that code anyway.
> If you put a feature in a module, it gets loaded whenever you first
> use the feature and unloads after a short time of no usage. It
> tends to reduce the size of your kernel and can make it a little
> easier to upgrade certain features. An example here might be a
> module for your zip drive. You wouldn't need to use that code all
> the time, so it would be reasonable to not add it to the kernel.
Actually, if you want to use a printer and a zip drive, or any
other combination of parallel port devices, then they all *must* be
compiled as modules. Also, it's easier to specify hardware device
parameters (e.g., IRQ, dma channel, etc) as module options than
pass them to the kernel. If you add/remove hardware more often
than I shave (about once a year) then modules are easier to
configure (again, via conf.modules) or replace. It's not a big
deal compiling a kernel on my K6-350, but it takes a *long* time on
the old pentium-120.
> >- Kernel hacking. What shall be its function
>
> This is for playing with experimental features, or even for trying
> to stress test kernel features. It's not something you would
> usually want to make use of in a production machine.
No, that's the experimental driver support (and there are several
kernel options you only get with that enabled that you might want
in a production machine, like some of the ip-masq and firewalling
stuff). The kernel hacking (if he's talking about the last section
in the kernel config) stuff is only for, well, kernel hacking.
Believe me, you don't want that enabled.
> >Under Console drivers
> >- Support only 8 pixels wide fonts
> >- Select compiled-in fonts
> >
> >What will be their function
> >
> I'm not as familiar with this one, but it looks like a choice
> between a few fixed fonts for your text screen modes or a larger
> selection of fonts. I'd take the defaults if I were you. Anyone
> else know a bit more here?
I think those are strictly for direct access to the frame-buffer,
and/or fancy console stuff. If you're just going to run X, then
you don't need that either.
Steve
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