It would be nice to include all possible options/devices in the
generic kernel config in their appropriate places (commented out
of course, but with a brief useful comment on what it does).

This would give the new, but soon-to-be kernel hacker some ideas
of what can be changed.

A popular issue at the moment is the:

#option		PCIC_ISA_INTR_ALLOC_MASK=0xffff    #allow only specified
                                                   #irq's for pcmcia irq
                                                   #alotment, bits 0-15,
                                                   #correspond to irq 0-15.

Note that "man options" does not mention the above option.

If these were all in the GENERIC kernel config file, it would serve
as a standard place for users to begin their understanding of how to
modify (or debug) the kernel.  A quick reading would also appraise
the user of things that might be necessary to change when certain
problems develop.

The current alternatives are to search thru the source code for
unknown keywords (akin to looking in a dictionary for the spelling
of an unknown word), or repeatedly harassing the mailing lists until
a good response is obtained to the problem (quite possibly the user
is not even aware that his problem might be solved with the proper
kernel configuration and is looking far astray).

The two schemes in current use are not good, allowing for confusion
and over-use of the mailing lists for simple questions.


Ideas from other people??????........