modules, or not??

snuck · n00b Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 40 Location: to your left

(woohoo first post)
From what I'm about to ask it'll be obvious that I've never compiled any kernels before etc, infact all I know about the kernel is that you need one, and it does good things, anyhow...

In the instalation guide where it's talking about choosing kernel options with make menuconfig, it says something like "enable xyz, again i usually compile them as modules".

What is the benefit of using modules as opposed to compiling things straight into the kernel??

Thanks for anyhelp.
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pYrania · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 11:55 am Post subject:

the profit is, that you kernel size shrinks and your are able to load and unload your modules at runtime.

i prefer too compile as much as possible as modules.
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snuck · n00b Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 40 Location: to your left

Thanks for the quick reply, but at risk of sounding foolish, what is the benifit of a smaller kernel?
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Anime_Fan · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 11:57 am Post subject:

The downside is modprobing, as well as when you build several kernels of the same version and delete all them modules.

I prefer my Kernels monolithic... Now if only someone would make me an nvidia patch for building nvidia support into the kernel

thesysadmin · n00b Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Posts: 50

I'm still pretty new to this but I always compile things into the kernel. I do this because I like having everything ready to go. Personal preference I guess

.
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pYrania · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 12:07 pm Post subject:

the benefit _was_ that the kernel fits onto a 1,44 MB or evenb 0,72 MB floppy disk.

today there is no real need for a smaller kernel
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snuck · n00b Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 40 Location: to your left

One more quick question; when the instalation guide says to enable one of the kernel options (again using "make menuconfig") does that mean just enable it, or it and the new sub-options that appear?
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pYrania · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 12:26 pm Post subject:

this depends on the suboptions

you dont need the debugging options, but others might be useful.
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snuck · n00b Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 40 Location: to your left

Ok thanks everyone, people have always talked about how good the gentoo forums are, and I have to say they were right

Rest assured I'll be back if [when] I have anymore prolems :wink:

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pYrania · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 1:07 pm Post subject:

you're welcome.
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ROOK · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 1:29 pm Post subject:

pYrania · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 2:15 pm Post subject:

right.
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GentooBox · Veteran Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Posts: 1168 Location: Denmark

Well...

i read i paper on kernels and linux security.
they said that a monolithic kernel is faster that a kernel with modules.

but i think it depends on what the box are made for.
if it is a workstation, then it have need for sound support in the kernel and IEEE and so on.

there for you compile it with module support. its only things that you dont use very often that you should compile as modules.
that means a small kernel.

and if it is a server. then you compile it monolithic. cuz a server dont have need for sound, IEEE and so on.
that means a small kernel and fast
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JensZ · Guru Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 339 Location: Freiburg

this may also be related to the reduced size of the kernel, a very small
kernel for server use my even fit into the cpu level2 cache, so last things
I heard were that modules aren't slower when their loaded.

wilburpan · l33t Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 977

I wrote a draft for a FAQ answer regarding modules vs. monolithic kernels located here.

Hope that might help.
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Sir Al · Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 1:18 am Post subject: