Compiling Applications question

[Bambi]

I have been wondering, if you install a piece of software that is precompiled, like RPM for example, it is generally compiled for i386 architecture, right? If i am running a PIII is it really worth compiling specifically for that type of precessor? Shurely if me compiling allows the software to make use of all the new features of the processor there will be a preformace increase. Look at something like XF86 which works the procesor fairly hard, if i compiled it myself rather than just installing from RPMs will i see a great difference in performance?

Same goes for the kernel, is it worth recompiling if it works fine for me as is. I know you can make the kernel smaller and customise it by recompiling but i am more interested in the affect of compiling for a specific processor(PIII) rather than the general i386. Any insight would be great.

[Marcel2008]

I recommend fine-tuning your kernel, it has options on what ype of processor you have, if you have dual processors etc.
The software rpm are build for a particular processor. The term i386 is another word for intel based processor. There are intel / sparc , etc rpm's.

[ 01 April 2001: Message edited by: Marcel2008 ]

[Neurotica]

You should _ALWAYS_ recompile a kernel after installing a linux system. The default pre-compild kernel that comes with distrobutions has ONE purpose. Thats to start up the system, so you can compile a fresh kernel custome tailored to your machine.

Thats one of the first things I do after installing a linux system, download a STOCK kernel from kernel.org, and compile that. Redhat and other distros like it often include some modified kernel, even the sources. So for best safty, compatability, stability, and security, download a fresh clean stock kernel source from kernel.org, and compile that.

Kernel compile is really easy, it seems kind of "scary" to someone new, but in all honesty its very simple, especially if you use xconfig when you configure it.


As for your concern about compiling programs... Well I compile almost every single application that I can on my computer, including popular libraries that I will use alot (like gtk). Compiling a program on your machine, almost garentees that it will run with far less problems, more stability, and perhaps faster.

If you use alot of gtk/glib programs, I recommend compiling those libraries from source as well. I have more software on my machine that I compiled myself then I do that wasnt. Basically I only install a "base" type system and compile the rest.


Although I havnt compiled XFree, Its a huge package, and takes a long time. The binaries work fine for Xfree. I did compile it once upon a time, but it wasnt worth the trouble.

[Ami Hughes]

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