Kernel Question

[Markus Schönhaber]

Paul Melvin wrote:

> 1.       If I compile my own kernel will it ruin anything that ubuntu has
> done, I have read that ubuntu does some special stuff and I don't really
> want to break anything.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "ruin anything".
It's possible to use a self-built kernel with Ubuntu and have it work
fine. But there's no guarantee that *every* self-built kernel will work.
If you tell us why you're thinking about building your own kernel, maybe
someone can even suggest an alternative which makes rolling your own
kernel unnecessary.

> 2.       How can I find out exactly what my kernel is using (i.e. exactly
> what it has, whether it is built-in or modules), for example could I use
> make menconfig.

For example, the config-files of the installed Ubuntu kernels are in
/boot by default. To take a look at the config of the currently running
Ubuntu kernel you could do something like
less /boot/config-$(uname -r)

> 3.       Can I just use the build-dep linux-source. to get everything for
> me? 

Take a look at this:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile

Regards
  mks