Which Kernel should I be using?

[CP]

Well I was about to compile 2.2.18, when I realised that I am currently runnign 2.2.19pre17, will I lose anything if I compile backwards, or should I move forward to 2.4? I use pretty standard hardware, and have never had a problem with 2.2.18, which I have been using for a long while now, just changed as I downloaded Debian. Is there anything to gain by moving forward, or is the backwards step OK?

[Craig McPherson]

I wouldn't really recommend going back to an earlier version, unless you're having problems with the current version.

For most people, the upgrade to 2.4.* is pretty painless. Some userland programs have to be up-to-date (like the module tools, to cope with the new layout of the module directories), and there can be a few *issues*, but as usual, as long as you keep your bootloader set so that you can still boot your old kernel if something goes wrong, you'll be fine. Give it a try.

[CP]

Damm. Wish you replied about an hour ago. Already done it. But I intend to move on to 2.4.* soon. Very soon in fact. Is the process the same?
make xconfig
make dep
make modules
make modules_install
or will I need to do some reading?

[Dave2001]

Mmmm iam not sure if you will need it for xconfig as well .... but if u say "make menuconfig " you will need the libncurses5-dev . So apt-get install libnucurses5-dev

But it is like i said .... not sure if it is needed in xconfig ...
David
David

[Craig McPherson]

The process is the same -- as long as the software on your system is up to date. At worst, your kernel won't boot and you'll have to boot back into your old kernel and try again. No time lost except the time you spent waiting for the kernel to compile. Give it a try and see if it works.

There may be a few surprises: the RTL8139 network card drive has changed from "rtl8139" to "8139too", for example, so people using that network card module would need to update their module files.