Re: HEADS UP: panic behaviour changed

[Robert Elz <kre%munnari.OZ.AU@localhost>]

    Date:        Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:23:40 +0200
    From:        Jukka Ruohonen <jruohonen%iki.fi@localhost>
    Message-ID:  <20090131192340.GA26700%zenith.zoo.net@localhost>

  | I must ask: what is exactly again wrong with GENERIC?

There's nothing wrong with GENERIC, in fact, it is an essential kernel
to have available.   But that doesn't mean that I think anyone should
routinely run it (for very long).   Eliminating all the cruft that has
to remain in GENERIC can result in considerable savings (I don't know
about you, but I haven't had a system with an EISA bus for a very long
time... and I never had one with MCA)   Further, in building a tailored
kernel I can configure maxusers, GATEWAY NMBCLUSTERS (and yes) DDB_ONPANIC to
the values that suit me.

But aside from ending up with a kernel that performs better than GENERIC
can possibly manage for my particular system and needs, there's also the
experience (education) of being able to know enough about the system and
the software to be able to configure and build a kernel.   That I believe
is both useful and valuable.

But, of course, I fully understand that not everyone has the same
motivations I do, and there are people (perhaps many) who prefer to
just run the binary GENERIC kernel supplied with the release.
It is for those users that the default values of any of these kernel
options matter - for anyone building their own kernel it is trivial
to set the options to whatever each user prefers.
 
  | It seems kind of counterproductive to argue that all "those regular users"
  | should be tinkering with their kernels -- all "those regular users" who run
  | CURRENT [sic], the main development branch that presumably benefits from the
  | unified baseline.

First, current need not be relevant here, GENERIC applies just as much to
the various release versions as to current - if not more.  But considering
just current for now, that's, if anything, where the project benefits more
from having people tailor kernels to their own needs.   If everyone just runs 
the exact same thing we never get to see what happens whenever things are
done differently - we want people running all different configurations to
make sure there are no hidden interactions that wouldn't otherwise be
noticed.

kre