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2. What Is A Kernel?
The "kernel" is the most important part of the operating system. It is
the only peice of software that can directly interface with the hardware.
All other software accesses the hardware through the kernel. Therefore,
the kernel is like a middleman (middle-person, middle-thing?) between the
software and hardware.
Unlike Windows and many other commerical operating systems, Linux actually
encourages access to the kernel. Just about anything Linux related is copyrighted
under the GNU Public Licence, more commonly reffered to as the GPL. The
GPL can be found here.
2.1 Why Do I Need To Compile?
Like I mentioned in the introduction, the kernel that comes with a Linux
distribution has everything enabled by default and is optimized for a 386
processor. Unless you have every peice of hardware ever made in your trusty
386, the default kernel will be more inefficent and slower than it could
be. Recompiling will allow you to tailor a kernel for your specific PC,
particuarly what kind of hardware you have.
2.2 What Do I Need To Compile?
Nothing too fancy is required for kernel compilation, just what you need
to compile most any other program. You'll need things like gcc, make, tar,
gzip (or bzip2), a bootloader, like LILO, and of course, the kernel source.
Most any distribution will come with these, but some of these may not be
installed by default. Read the kernel's README file for more information.
2.3 Where Do I Get The Kernel Source?
The best place to get the Linux kernel is at kernel.org and its mirrors.
The kernel.org primary site is updated most frequently and has the most
bandwidth, but is usually very busy, so it is probably best to either download
during off-peak hours or find a local mirror that offers the same file.
Kernel Source:
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/
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