Linux

21.3    Configuring and Compiling the Kernel Yourself

The average Linux user does not need to compile his or her own kernel. All current distributions come with a usable standard kernel and an extensive collection of modules. Nevertheless, there may be reasons to recompile the kernel:

• You want to get to know your system better. After all, the idea of this book is to give you a look behind the scenes of Linux.

• You need special functions that are neither integrated into the supplied kernel nor available as a module.

• You want to use a more recent version of the kernel than the one that came with your distribution.

• You want to participate in the kernel development yourself and therefore experiment with the latest developer kernel.

• You ...