compiling kernels - built in v module

[Ben Elliston]

>>>>> "Martijn" == Martijn van Oosterhout <kleptog at svana.org> writes:

  >> I'm insterested I'm peoples opinions regarding what to build in to the kernel 
  >> and what to make into modules
  >> 
  >> I'm running RedHat 7.1 on a Celeron 533, 640MB ram, 44x IDE CDROM, 2x write/ 
  >> 8x read IDE CDR, with two 4.3 SCSI HDDs, HP SureStor T4 SCSI tape, S3 virge 
  >> agp video, realtek 8139 nic, Ensonique 1371 sound, Plustek OP600p scanner.

  Martijn> Basically, I look at what I'm going to use and compile in things that are
  Martijn> *always* going to be used. So, if I mounting DOS partitions at bootup, I
  Martijn> compile in vfat. CD Images? -> loop and iso9660. I tend to do network cards

IMHO, everything is best loaded as a module, if possible.  In this
way, modules that aren't used will be expelled from memory.
Furthermore, you can never predict when you'll need to replace one
piece of hardware (such as a network card) with another make/model.

  Martijn> I also tend to do SCSI as modules because I like to be able to load and
  Martijn> unload ide-cd, ide-scsi and sr at will to provide different access methods
  Martijn> to the cdroms/burners.

If you boot your machine from a SCSI disk, you're going to need those
modules available at boot time, in which case they need to go into an
intial ramdisk or be linked into the kernel image.

Ben