Kernel Config Time

[Justin]

Jonathan Hutchins wrote:

>So for those of you intrepid programmers out there who don't hesitate to 
>plunge right into this stuff: How long does it take to run through a basic, 
>first time kernel configuration script?  Since the human in this equation is 
>most likely the determining slow factor, it shouldn't really matter what 
>hardware you're configuring on, it should be a matter of how long does it 
>take to consider those questions that need an answer, answer them, determine 
>that the others can be left at the default, and get all the way through the 
>script?
>
>How long does it take to configure the kernel for a new compile?
>  
>

For the human part, I'd say 15-40 minutes.  The first time you end up 
taking 40 minutes to reach everything, and there after you know you can 
safely skip entire sections.  You can always use your original config as 
a guide and just start taking stuff out (or adding in as in your case to 
get that cool fb working for links).  When you're finished the actual 
compile takes about 10-20 minutes.  Be sure to call it something else 
like, vmlinux-2.4.22-custom1, that way if things go badly you can just 
revert back to your original vmlinux-2.4.19 (or whatever) one with no 
harm done.  One of these days I've been meaning to clean out the 15 or 
so grub entries that I don't use anymore.