[ltp] Re: gentoo

[Daniel Pittman]

Tim Tebbit <ttebbit@gmail.com> writes:

[...]

> I know using the generic kernel was a pretty big waste but that was also my
> first kernel build and I was happy enough that succeeded.

No, it isn't.  At least, a generic kernel build that puts most of the drivers
in modules wastes nothing except, perhaps, a tiny (by modern standards) bit of
disk space.

The kernel automatically selects machine and CPU specific optimizations at
runtime when compiled for a "generic" target, so you gain pretty much nothing,
and give up flexibility, if you try and reduce that.

Likewise, drivers as modules means that you don't lose anything at runtime for
drivers you don't use, and pay only a very small price to have udev
automatically load the drivers you do need.

In return you have much greater flexibility if you, for example, ever change
your laptop for a newer model, since you can just pick up the installation and
drop it wholesale into the new hardware without too much trouble.[1]

> I pretty much followed the handbook word for word and ended up with a fairly
> generic system I believe.  So, anymore of us out there? And what tips can
> you pass for optimal configuration options for the T61?

Don't waste your time searching for that fractionally faster set of compiler
flags; the return on your investment will never be paid off for anything
day-to-day.

Regards,
        Daniel

Footnotes: 
[1]  By which I mean: with only the standard trouble that the boot loader
     implies, plus reconfiguring older software like X that hard-codes the
     boot process.  Plus, perhaps, rebuilding the initramfs if you were silly
     enough to limit the drivers it contained rather than shoving them all in
     there.

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