Marc G. Fournier wrote:
>
> More seriously, I know under FreeBSD, one of the first things that
> gets done after installing is to customize the kernel to get rid of
> all the 'cruft' part of the generic kernel, I take it that this isn't
> something that ppl do with Linux?
>
The Linux kernel has loadable modules, so it's much less of an issue.
For example, I just installed the Cisco VPN s/w on my FC4 box. I didn't
have to rebuild the kernel, all I have to do is to load the kernel
module that puts a wedge in the IP stack.
The parts of the kernel that are optional are almost all loadable modules.
Some people do build static kernels. That makes sense when you have
tightly controlled hardware and software requirements. I mostly don't
bother.
cheers
andrew