From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S261633AbVEOOKZ (ORCPT ); Sun, 15 May 2005 10:10:25 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S261604AbVEOOKY (ORCPT ); Sun, 15 May 2005 10:10:24 -0400 Received: from smtpout03-04.mesa1.secureserver.net ([64.202.165.74]:15291 "HELO smtpout03-04.mesa1.secureserver.net") by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id S261657AbVEOOJw (ORCPT ); Sun, 15 May 2005 10:09:52 -0400 Message-ID: <428757F7.1030700@coyotegulch.com> Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 10:08:55 -0400 From: Scott Robert Ladd User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.2 (X11/20050512) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Jesper Juhl CC: Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu, Borislav Petkov , Edgar Toernig , jmerkey , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: Automatic .config generation References: <200505150742.j4F7gds1020180@turing-police.cc.vt.edu> In-Reply-To: X-Enigmail-Version: 0.90.2.0 X-Enigmail-Supports: pgp-inline, pgp-mime Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Jesper Juhl wrote: > Where's the harm in just building all the sound > modules - you only load one in the end anyway, and the space taken by the > other modules is negligible with the disk sizes of today I'd say (ok, > there's some extra build time involved, but that shouldn't be a big deal > either). A desktop computer with a large hard drive may be the norm for kernel developers, but it isn't (by far) the only environment where the kernel is built. Embedded devices, small systems, older hardware, and heterogenous networks all require a bit more finesse than a simple "build it all and throw the mess at the hardware" approach. The complexity of the kernel is growing, making it more difficult for people to understand what they need and how to get it. It seems to me that a computer can analyze itself to determine the "best" build options. That's part of the reasoning behind my Acovea technology -- reducing complexity through smarter software. http://www.coyotegulch.com/products/acovea Acovea isn't directly applicable to the kernel, but the idea of the computer performing self-discovery is certainly valid. Once I get another project finished, I'm going to take a more formal look at kernel configuration, and see what might be done. ..Scott