Linux Kernel in a Nutshell

Name

SERIAL_8250 — 8250/16550 and compatible serial support

This selects whether you want to include the driver for the standard serial ports. The standard answer is yes. People who might say no here are those setting up dedicated Ethernet WWW/FTP servers, or users that have one of the various bus mice instead of a serial mouse and don't intend to use their machine's standard serial port for anything. In addition, the Cyclades and Stallion multi serial port drivers do not need this driver.

Note

Do not compile this driver as a module if you are using non-standard serial ports, because the configuration information will be lost when the driver is unloaded. This limitation may be lifted in the future.

Most people will say yes here, so that they can use serial mice, modems, and similar devices connected to the standard serial ports.