On Tue, 29 Apr 2008, B A wrote:
>Surely I have read FAQ,
>especially '5 - Building the System from Source'
>but there is no section about building custom ramdisk.
>Probably one should be included, so you see less *dumb*
>questions about it. Obviously people need to build them
>for many reasons, like completely in RAM internet kiosk
>and so on.
You appear to have missed FAQ section 5.6:
5.6 - Why do I need a custom kernel?
Actually, you probably don't.
A custom kernel is a kernel built with a configuration file other than
the provided GENERIC configuration file. A custom kernel can be based on
-release, -stable or -current code, just as a GENERIC kernel can be.
While compiling your own GENERIC kernel is supported by the OpenBSD
team, compiling your own custom kernel is not.
The standard OpenBSD kernel configuration (GENERIC) is designed to be
suitable for most people. More people have broken their system by trying
to tweak their kernel than have improved system operation. There are
some people that believe that you must customize your kernel and system
for optimum performance, but this is not true for OpenBSD. Only the most
advanced and knowledgeable users with the most demanding applications
need to worry about a customized kernel or system.
Some reasons you might want or need to build a custom kernel:
* You really know what you are doing, and want to shoe-horn OpenBSD
onto a computer with a small amount of RAM by removing device
drivers you don't need.
* You really know what you are doing, and wish to remove default
options or add options which may not have been enabled by default
(and have good reason to do so).
* You really know what you are doing, and wish to enable
experimental options.
* You really know what you are doing, and have a special need that
is not met by GENERIC, and aren't going to ask why it doesn't work
if something goes wrong.
Some reasons why you should not build a custom kernel:
* You do not need to, normally.
* You will not get a faster system.
* You are likely to make a less reliable machine.
* You will not get any support from developers.
* You will be expected to reproduce any problem with a GENERIC
kernel before developers take any problem report seriously.
* Users and developers will laugh at you when you break your system.
* Custom compiler options usually do a better job of exposing
compiler problems than improving system performance.
Removing device drivers may speed the boot process on your system, but
can complicate recovery should you have a hardware problem, and is very
often done wrong. Removing device drivers will not make your system run
faster by any noticeable amount, though can produce a smaller kernel.
Removing debugging and error checking can result in a measurable
performance gain, but will make it impossible to troubleshoot a system
if something goes wrong.
Again, developers will usually ignore bug reports dealing with custom
kernels, unless the problem can be reproduced in a GENERIC kernel as
well. You have been warned.
Dave
>29.04.08, 19:13, "Dave Anderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
>
>> OpenBSD comes with excellent documentation, and the developers (and just
>> about everyone else here) expect you to read the relevant parts before
>> posting here. If you've read the FAQ, you have no excuse for not
>> knowing that (unlike, e.g., Linux) OpenBSD is an integrated system with
>> its options and configuration chosen by the developers to work well
>> together in essentially all cases, so tinkering is not supported -- if
>> you go there, you're on your own. Because of this, questions like yours
>> are taken as an indication that you haven't done your homework and are
>> trying to get other people to do it for you.
--
Dave Anderson
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
