Kernel Compile Questions

[bdg1983]

I just went through the kernel config program in LM 8.1 and was surprised to find that much of the support built into the kernel on install has absolutly nothing to do with the config of my machine nor network services. Is it safe to say that in general a base install is bloated/slow and a kernel config should most definately be done ? I have a decent vanilla system with standard components and removed tons of options that were included in the default installation....stuff like: digital camera, bluetooth, PPP support etc ....Leaving of course the stuff i wasn't sure about but the volume of stuff I know I don't need is extensive. I don't want to get my hopes up too high since it is my first kernel compilation :) I was wondering if I should expect to see a great improvment in performance based on others experiences ??

TIA Willy

[X_console]

Yes, the generic kernel that comes with a distribution has a lot of support enabled in it in order for it to be able to work on a variety of machines. It's always good to recompile it and customize your kernel to make things run faster. I suggest going for a modular kernel where you compile a lot of drivers as modules. This way if you ever change something, say your 3Com network card to a Linksys or something, then at least it will still be detected by the kernel. Certain things shouldn't be modules, mainly things that you access all the time.