Kernel modules
I have mentioned kernel modules several times already. Desktop Linux distributions use them extensively so that the correct device and kernel functions can be loaded at runtime, depending on the hardware detected and features required. Without them, every single driver and feature would have to be statically linked in to the kernel, making it infeasibly large.
On the other hand, with embedded devices, the hardware and kernel configuration is usually known at the time the kernel is built, and therefore modules are not so useful. In fact, they cause a problem because they create a version dependency between the kernel and the root filesystem, which can cause boot failures if one is updated but not the other. Consequently, it ...
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