Kernel for Performance

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CentaurX
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Joined: 12/03/2013

Hey, guys. I'm really getting into the performance stuff, I downloaded the mini version of Trisquel and I bought 4gb of RAM for my Optiplex 320 (which is the most it can get) so, I was searching more things to do and I found something very interesting, but I don't know, I tend to be a little skeptical. I found a kernel made by Con Kolivas ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con_Kolivas ) for performance. And I wonder if this is going to affect my compatibility with some programs as well as if this is going to generate crashes.

To sum up all the questions I've got, what are the advantages and disadvantages it has to use a different kernel than the one is already built-in? And will I get updates and support from Trisquel?

Here's the patch: http://users.on.net/~ckolivas/kernel/

And by the way, is this process complicated? XD!

lembas
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Joined: 05/13/2010

I think the amount of ram doesn't really matter, unless you're running out of it. I still make do with 1G.

The kernel is the most complicated piece of software you'll ever find. Changing it can do pretty much anything. There's like a million configuration options. If you add all kind of patches to it, then there's even more change possible or of course you could hack the code yourself.

To make a short, simple and wrong answer to a question that would require a long and complex answer one could say that some kernels are better suited for servers and some for desktops. Some for embedded devices and some for mainframes. Different architectures and different peripherals. Etc etc etc

Compiling a custom kernel is a relatively straight forward process but as said there's a million configuration options and finding out the best possible combo is something of a black magic. Of course all this is no reason at all to not try. In fact I suggest everybody does it a few times. I wrote a short tutorial here https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/compiling-gnu-linux-libre-kernel

Please notice that since that patch is against the vanilla kernel, applying it against Linux-libre can generate some warnings. Not very likely though and warnings are not critical anyways unlike errors.

Magic Banana

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Joined: 07/24/2010

And notice that the ck kernel contains blobs! You had better configure and compile the Linux-libre kernel.