Linux Kernel in a Nutshell

Chapter 3. Retrieving the kernel source

When you're building your own kernel, you want the latest stable release. Many distributions provide their own packages of kernel sources, but these are rarely the most cutting-enge, recent versions. The distribution packages have the advantage of being built to be compatible with the compiler and other tools provided by the distribution (Chapter 2 explains the importance of their being compatible) but they may not end up providing the functionality or performance you want. If you can create your own environment with the latest kernel, compiler, and other tools, you will be able to build exactly what you want. This chapter focuses on determining which kernel sources to download, and how to obtain them.

What tree to use

In the past, the Linux kernel was split into only two trees, the "development" branch and the "stable" branch. The development branch was denoted by an odd number for the second release number, while the stable branch used even numbers. So, as an example, the 2.5.25 release was a development kernel, while the 2.4.25 release is a stable release.

But after the 2.6 series was created, the kernel developers decided to abandon this method of having two separate trees, and declared that all 2.6 kernel releases would be considered "stable", no matter how quickly development was happening. The few months between the major 2.6 releases would allow kernel developers the time to add new features and then stabilize them in time for the next ...