The -generic kernels (was Re: KUbuntu, root passwords and broken authentication)

[Daniel Pittman]

Derek Broughton <news at pointerstop.ca> writes:
> Daniel Pittman wrote:

[...]

>> Footnotes:
>> [1]  My favorite is that a large part of the support for SMP
>>      alternatives in the kernel is thanks to Ubuntu working hard to test
>>      and promote it.  Simple, correct and very unobtrusive.
>
> Indeed - and yet I keep seeing posts from people asking either "where is the
> SMP kernel?" or "why am I running an SMP kernel?" - you just can't please
> everyone :-)

I would, instead, phrase that as:

  "You just can't educated everyone ... instantly."

It really isn't that surprising that a lot of people believe that a
kernel custom to their hardware is more efficient, that software
compiled with slightly difference compiler flags beats generic options,
or that you have to have a -smp or -up kernel.

Under Linux, for many years, that /was/ the case.  Not as much as people
believed, perhaps, but the runtime selection of memory copy algorithms
and similar behavioural changes were actually relatively recent.


So, in a few years there will be hordes of people who will never believe
that you could want an SMP or UP kernel alone -- simply because they
have never seen one. ;)

Regards,
        Daniel
-- 
Digital Infrastructure Solutions -- making IT simple, stable and secure
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