>> There are a handful of programs that might not work with an upgraded
>> kernel (some of the nfs programs fit in this category, and anything that
>> grovels through the kernel for things and relies on the kernel and the
>> user program having the same view of data structures--like w, ps, netstat,
>> etc.  A common denominator is that all of these programs use libkvm).
>> Everything else should be fine using old binaries on a new system.
>Then how about creating another tar-file besides the regular ones, which
>contains only these kernel dependent files? It would really reduce the
>cost of downloading ...

Splitting, and reorganizing, "base" would indeed greatly improve things:
a separate "basekvm" or so, which contains the kernel-dependent stuff,
while "base" contains the rest, with the exception of hardly necessary
stuff like the tons of timezone files (these should move to "misc" or so,
with only the ones for the zones, not the specific places, remaining).

Best wishes,

          Nico

--
  Dr. N.J.R. van Eikema Hommes     Computer-Chemie-Centrum
  hommes@ccc.uni-erlangen.de       Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg
  Phone:    +49-(0)9131-856532     Naegelsbachstr. 25
  FAX:      +49-(0)9131-856566     D-91052 Erlangen, Germany