My assumption is that using -msupersparc makes the kernel faster,
   but also bloats it to near the breakage point, and small things
   can push it over the edge.  (All my kernels have IPSEC in them,
   but I clear out all the sun4 and sun4c cruft from my config files,
   not to mention the VME bus stuff and antique disk controllers,
   etc.)


i strongly suggest that people with sparc machines build a kernel
with only their cpu type enabled - ie, sun4, sun4c or sun4m.  a
kernel that supports all runs slower as there are far more
indirect function calls.


.mrg.