[plug] Debian Kernel compile

[James Devenish]

In message <1075438741.1003.27.camel at rivendell>
on Fri, Jan 30, 2004 at 12:58:44PM +0800, Tim Bowden wrote:
> What are the pro's and con's of getting the latest kernel
> source from debian woody (2.4.18)

You at least know that the Debian kernel packages will be compatible
with the Debian userland packages (e.g. the kernel headers will match up
with your userland software). If you get a newer kernel, perhaps it is
possible that this would not hold. However, I would guess that this is
not a concern within the 2.4 series (perhaps by design -- I don't know
enough about Linux). 

> as against kernel.org which has 2.4.24?  I have heard both opinions
> expressed without any reasoning. Apart from having the latest kernel,
> will using source from kernel.org add any complications?

I would note that for a system such as Debian, the installation of a
newer kernel entails a few upgrades to userland software. For example,
here is a list of dependencies for the 2.4.23 (686) kernel in Debian
testing:

- initrd-tools (2 0.1.48) coreutils (16 (null)) fileutils (2 4.0)
  modutils (2 2.4.19) lilo (2 19.1) fdutils (0 (null)) kernel-doc-2.4.24
  (0 (null)) kernel-pcmcia-modules-2.4.24-1-686 (16 (null))
  pcmcia-modules-2.4.24-1-686 (0 (null))

Here is the list for 2.4.20:

 - initrd-tools (2 0.1.40) coreutils (16 (null)) fileutils (2 4.0)
   modutils (2 2.4.19) lilo (2 19.1) fdutils (0 (null))
   kernel-doc-2.4.20 (0 (null)) kernel-pcmcia-modules-2.4.20-3-686 (16
   (null)) pcmcia-modules-2.4.20-3-686 (0 (null))

As you can see, Debian would install a newer version of initrd-tools. If
the previous kernel was 2.4.18 from Debian woody, modutils would also be
upgraded. If you *need* something that is not present in 2.4.18, then I
suppose you would have no choice! Otherwise, you at least have the
comfort of having an assured upgrade/security path for 2.4.18 (if
running Debian stable, for example).