Mailing List Archive

On Tue, Apr 29, 2003 at 11:12:18AM -0700, Jason Richey wrote:
> I know there was some discussion about kernel upgrade of the current
> wiki server. I'll be in front of the servers Friday evening, so I
> could easily make such an upgrade.
>
> I am familiar with the kernel and compiling and installing (I use
> LILO, if that's okay with everyone) and such. So, if we can reach a
> consensus about the kernel version, I can manage. Alternatively, if
> there is already one compiled and ready, I can just install that.

I think you should use the Redhat kernel. :) I believe the current
version for us (after a cursory look) appears to be:

kernel-smp-2.4.18-27.7.x.athlon.rpm (for Redhat 7.2).

--
Nick Reinking -- eschewing obfuscation since 1981 -- Minneapolis, MN

I can understand the ease of installation of an RPM kernel, but I
think we would do well to use a kernel that was compiled with our
hardware in mind. Surely, we don't need sound support or other such
things boating our kernel, and we might enjoy a little extra
performance from a kernel that doesn't have to use modules to access
it's primary IO devices.

Jason

Nick Reinking wrote:

> On Tue, Apr 29, 2003 at 11:12:18AM -0700, Jason Richey wrote:
> > I know there was some discussion about kernel upgrade of the current
> > wiki server. I'll be in front of the servers Friday evening, so I
> > could easily make such an upgrade.
> >
> > I am familiar with the kernel and compiling and installing (I use
> > LILO, if that's okay with everyone) and such. So, if we can reach a
> > consensus about the kernel version, I can manage. Alternatively, if
> > there is already one compiled and ready, I can just install that.
>
> I think you should use the Redhat kernel. :) I believe the current
> version for us (after a cursory look) appears to be:
>
> kernel-smp-2.4.18-27.7.x.athlon.rpm (for Redhat 7.2).
>
> --
> Nick Reinking -- eschewing obfuscation since 1981 -- Minneapolis, MN
> _______________________________________________
> Wikitech-l mailing list
> Wikitech-l@wikipedia.org
> http://www.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

--
"Jason C. Richey" <jasonr@bomis.com>

On Tue, Apr 29, 2003 at 11:36:10AM -0700, Jason Richey wrote:
> I can understand the ease of installation of an RPM kernel, but I
> think we would do well to use a kernel that was compiled with our
> hardware in mind. Surely, we don't need sound support or other such
> things boating our kernel, and we might enjoy a little extra
> performance from a kernel that doesn't have to use modules to access
> it's primary IO devices.
>
> Jason

I don't think that we'll derive much benefit from Linux, being the
modular monolithic kernel that it is. The only thing building our own
kernel would really save us is boot time (since it won't be probing a
bunch of modules). I don't think we want to mess with the kernel -
there is a good chance that putting in something foreign could cause
Redhats bootup scripts to have weird errors. (can't say for sure, I
haven't installed a custom kernel on Redhat since 4.x...) Still, if we
are aiming for stability over a couple percent speed improvement, I
think that using the tested Redhat kernel would definitely be the way to
go.

--
Nick Reinking -- eschewing obfuscation since 1981 -- Minneapolis, MN

No offense, Nick, but we've been doing this for a long time, with some
very high traffic websites, and Jason knows what he's doing.

On Tue, Apr 29, 2003 at 11:50:18AM -0700, Jimmy Wales wrote:
> No offense, Nick, but we've been doing this for a long time, with some
> very high traffic websites, and Jason knows what he's doing.

To be fair, so have I. :) But, if you think the extra risk and work is
justified, go right ahead.

--
Nick Reinking -- eschewing obfuscation since 1981 -- Minneapolis, MN

> (Nick Reinking <nick@twoevils.org>):
> On Tue, Apr 29, 2003 at 11:50:18AM -0700, Jimmy Wales wrote:
> > No offense, Nick, but we've been doing this for a long time, with some
> > very high traffic websites, and Jason knows what he's doing.
>
> To be fair, so have I. :) But, if you think the extra risk and work is
> justified, go right ahead.

I tend to tread the middle ground myself--I have a kernel built from
RedHat source RPMs using a RedHat-supplied alternate config, with one
or two minor tweaks.

The big win for me at home was compiling for the Athlon.

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC

On Tue, Apr 29, 2003 at 02:21:55PM -0500, Lee Daniel Crocker wrote:
> > (Nick Reinking <nick@twoevils.org>):
> > On Tue, Apr 29, 2003 at 11:50:18AM -0700, Jimmy Wales wrote:
> > > No offense, Nick, but we've been doing this for a long time, with some
> > > very high traffic websites, and Jason knows what he's doing.
> >
> > To be fair, so have I. :) But, if you think the extra risk and work is
> > justified, go right ahead.
>
> I tend to tread the middle ground myself--I have a kernel built from
> RedHat source RPMs using a RedHat-supplied alternate config, with one
> or two minor tweaks.
>
> The big win for me at home was compiling for the Athlon.

Yeah, I believe the rpm I quoted earlier was compiled for the Athlon,
something I doubt about the current kernel (which was compiled for
i686).

--
Nick Reinking -- eschewing obfuscation since 1981 -- Minneapolis, MN

On Tue, 29 Apr 2003, Nick Reinking wrote:

> Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 14:37:41 -0500
> From: Nick Reinking <nick@twoevils.org>
> Subject: Re: [Wikitech-l] kernel on wiki server
>
> On Tue, Apr 29, 2003 at 02:21:55PM -0500, Lee Daniel Crocker wrote:
> > > (Nick Reinking <nick@twoevils.org>):
> > > On Tue, Apr 29, 2003 at 11:50:18AM -0700, Jimmy Wales wrote:
> > > > No offense, Nick, but we've been doing this for a long time, with some
> > > > very high traffic websites, and Jason knows what he's doing.
> > >
> > > To be fair, so have I. :) But, if you think the extra risk and work is
> > > justified, go right ahead.
> >
> > I tend to tread the middle ground myself--I have a kernel built from
> > RedHat source RPMs using a RedHat-supplied alternate config, with one
> > or two minor tweaks.
> >
> > The big win for me at home was compiling for the Athlon.
>
> Yeah, I believe the rpm I quoted earlier was compiled for the Athlon,
> something I doubt about the current kernel (which was compiled for
> i686).

If you're talking specifically for RH 7.2 or 7.3, that's what
kernel-2.4.18-27.7.x.athlon.rpm is for. If it's 8.0, you've got your
kernel-2.4.18-27.8.0.athlon.rpm. But I've always used a kernel customized
and tweaked, ever since I was compiling with Cyrix 686 optimization,
possibly even earlier. I do it with Athlon now myself; although my system
is mostly RH 8.0, I use the raw kernel.org kernel, configured to have just
the goodies I need/want, and do it well. I very much recommend a
customized kernel, even given the availability of Athlon-optimized RPMs.

--
John R. Owens http://www.ghiapet.homeip.net/
The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. But
in the year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last,
best hope for victory. The year is 2260. The place--Babylon 5.
--Commander Susan Ivanova