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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> |
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<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/gentoo-kernel.xml,v 1.29 2005/05/12 20:40:22 neysx Exp $ --> |
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|
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<!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd"> |
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<guide link="/doc/en/gentoo-kernel.xml"> |
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<title>Gentoo Linux Kernel Guide</title> |
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<author title="Author"> |
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<mail link="swift@gentoo.org">Sven Vermeulen</mail> |
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</author> |
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<author title="Contributor"> |
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<mail link="lostlogic@gentoo.org">Brandon Low</mail> |
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</author> |
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<author title="Editor"> |
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<mail link="dsd@gentoo.org">Daniel Drake</mail> |
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</author> |
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<author title="Editor"> |
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<mail link="carl@gentoo.org">Carl Anderson</mail> |
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</author> |
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<author title="Editor"> |
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<mail link="peesh@gentoo.org">Jorge Paulo</mail> |
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</author> |
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<author title="Editor"> |
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<mail link="bennyc@gentoo.org">Benny Chuang</mail> |
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</author> |
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<author title="Editor"> |
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<mail link="greg_g@gentoo.org">Gregorio Guidi</mail> |
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</author> |
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|
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<abstract> |
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This document gives you an overview on all kernel sources that Gentoo |
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provides through Portage. |
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</abstract> |
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|
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<license/> |
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|
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<version>1.7</version> |
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<date>2005-05-29</date> |
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|
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<chapter> |
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<title>Introduction</title> |
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<section> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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As with everything else in Gentoo Linux, the philosophy of the Gentoo |
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Kernel team is to give you, the user, as much freedom of choice as |
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possible. If you take a look at the output of <c>emerge -s sources</c> |
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you see a large variety of kernels to choose from. In this document, |
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I will attempt to give you a brief rundown of the goals of each of the |
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patch sets, which we at Gentoo design, and also explain the other kernel |
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sources we make available to you. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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|
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<chapter> |
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<title>Supported kernel packages</title> |
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<section> |
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<title>genkernel</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>Genkernel</c> is a kernel toolset that can be used to autodetect your |
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hardware and configure your kernel automatically. This is usually recommended |
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for users who do not feel comfortable about compiling a kernel manually. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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For more information, please read the <uri link="/doc/en/genkernel.xml">Gentoo |
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Linux Genkernel Guide</uri>. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>General purpose: gentoo-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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For most users, we recommend the <c>gentoo-sources</c> kernel. Since the |
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2005.0 release, Gentoo Linux uses 2.6 as the default kernel. Unless you are |
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specifically using the 2.4 profile, <c>gentoo-sources</c> will be a 2.6 kernel |
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on <e>most</e> architectures. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>gentoo-sources</c> is a kernel based on Linux 2.6, with various kernel |
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patches included to fix security problems, kernel bugs, and to increase |
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compatibility with the more uncommon system architectures. Linux 2.6 is |
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the current official stable kernel tree, and development is progressing |
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rapidly. For highest performance, best hardware support, and its large |
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new feature set, we recommend 2.6 over its older 2.4 counterpart. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Some of the more uncommon system architectures are not fully compatible with |
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Linux 2.6, and some users prefer to the tried-and-tested Linux 2.4 kernel; |
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for this reason we provide <c>gentoo-sources</c> (the 2.4 version). The |
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patches included in this kernel are similar to those included in its 2.6 |
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counterpart, plus a number of patches designed to add functionality and |
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improve performance. Linux 2.4 is currently not being developed further - only |
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bug and security fixes are being included in the newer releases. If you are |
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able to, we suggest that you upgrade to Linux 2.6. You may find the |
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<uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/migration-to-2.6.xml">migration |
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document</uri> useful. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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The <c>gentoo-sources</c> package absorbs most of the resources of the Gentoo |
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kernel team. They are brought to you by a group of talented developers, which |
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can count on the expertise of popular kernel hacker Greg Kroah-Hartman, |
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maintainer of udev and responsible for the USB and PCI subsystems of the |
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official Linux kernel. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>Plain kernels: vanilla-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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The next kernel sources that many of you will probably be familiar with |
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as Linux users are the <c>vanilla-sources</c>. These are the official kernel |
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sources released on <uri>http://www.kernel.org/</uri>. Please note that we do |
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not patch these kernels at all - these are purely for people who wish to run |
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a completely unmodified Linux kernel. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Similar to <c>gentoo-sources</c>, two versions of the kernel can be found |
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under this package: 2.4 and 2.6. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Linux 2.4 is maintained by Marcelo Tosatti. Linus Torvalds, the original |
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creator of Linux, handed maintainership of the Linux 2.4 branch over to |
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Marcelo when Linus went off to start developing the newer 2.6 kernel tree. |
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Marcelo has done a fine job of keeping 2.4 stable and secure, and is now |
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only accepting security and bug fixes into the 2.4 kernel tree. Actual |
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development happens in the Linux 2.6 kernel tree. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Linux 2.6 is maintained by Andrew Morton, who works closely with Linus |
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Torvalds to deliver a fast, powerful, and feature-packed Linux kernel. |
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Development is happening at incredible pace and this kernel tree is now very |
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mature. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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|
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<section> |
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<title>For servers: hardened-sources, hardened-dev-sources and |
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rsbac-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>hardened-sources</c> is based on Linux 2.4 and is targetted at our users |
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running Gentoo on server systems. It provides patches for the various |
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subprojects of Gentoo Hardened (such as support for LSM/SELinux and |
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GRSecurity), together with stability/security-enhancements. Check |
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<uri>http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/hardened/</uri> for more information. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>hardened-dev-sources</c> serves the same purpose as <c>hardened-sources</c> |
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but is based on the newer Linux 2.6 kernel base. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>rsbac-sources</c> contains patches to use Rule Set Based Access Controls |
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(RSBAC) and comes in 2.4 and 2.6 flavours. It is maintained by the |
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<uri link="/proj/en/hardened/rsbac/">RSBAC project</uri>, a subproject of |
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Gentoo Hardened. |
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</p> |
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|
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<impo> |
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These kernels provide powerful patches for enhanced security. Please read the |
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<uri link="/proj/en/hardened/">documentation</uri> before you use them. |
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</impo> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>Architecture dependent kernels</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>alpha-sources</c>, <c>hppa-sources</c>, <c>hppa-dev-sources</c>, |
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<c>mips-sources</c>, <c>pegasos-dev-sources</c>, <c>sparc-sources</c> |
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and <c>xbox-sources</c> are, as their names suggest, |
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patched to run best on specific architectures. They also contain some of |
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the patches for hardware and features support from the other patch sets |
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mentioned above and below. A "-dev-" in the name of a kernel package means that |
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the sources use the 2.6 kernel instead of the 2.4 kernel. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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|
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<chapter> |
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<title>Unsupported kernel packages</title> |
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<section> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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Now I'm going to try to briefly describe some of the other |
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<path>sys-kernel/*-sources</path> which you saw scroll by when you ran |
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<c>emerge -s sources</c>. Lets take them in alphabetical order. These |
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kernels are provided as a courtesy only and the various patch sets are not |
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supported by the Gentoo team. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>ck-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>ck-sources</c> is Con Kolivas's kernel patch set. This patchset is |
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primarily designed to improve system responsiveness and interactivity and is |
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configurable for varying workloads (from servers to desktops). The patchset is |
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also quite mature and has been put through numerous iterations of development |
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and tuning. The emphasis of each release is on stability and security. Support |
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and information is available at <uri>http://kernel.kolivas.org</uri> and in |
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<c>#ck</c> on <c>irc.oftc.net</c>. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>grsec-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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The <c>grsec-sources</c> kernel source is patched with the latest GRSecurity |
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updates (GRSecurity version 2.0 and up) which includes, amongst other |
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security-related patches, support for PaX. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>mm-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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The <c>mm-sources</c> are based on the <c>vanilla-sources</c> and contain |
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Andrew Morton's patch set. They include the experimental and bleeding-edge |
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features that are going to be included in the official kernel (or that are |
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going to be rejected because they set your box on fire). They are known to be |
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always moving at a fast pace and can change radically from one week to the |
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other; kernel hackers use them as a testing ground for new stuff. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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If you really want to live on the edge and you think |
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<c>vanilla-sources</c> are for wussies, then try out |
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<c>mm-sources</c>. Be warned that this kernel is highly experimental and |
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doesn't always work as expected. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>openmosix-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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The <c>openmosix-sources</c> are patched to support the openMosix system |
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(like MOSIX but Open Source). For more information see |
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<uri>http://www.openmosix.org</uri>. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>usermode-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>usermode-sources</c> are the User Mode Linux kernel patches. This |
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kernel is designed to allow Linux to run within Linux to run within Linux |
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to ... User Mode Linux is intended for testing and virtual server support. |
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For more information about this amazing tribute to the stability and |
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scalability of Linux, see <uri>http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net</uri>. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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For more information on UML and Gentoo, read the |
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<uri link="/doc/en/uml.xml">Gentoo UML Guide</uri>. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>win4lin-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>win4lin-sources</c> are patched to support the userland win4lin tools |
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that allow Linux users to run many Microsoft Windows (TM) applications |
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at almost native speeds. See <uri>http://www.netraverse.com/</uri> for more |
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information. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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|
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<chapter> |
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<title>Previously provided kernel packages</title> |
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<section> |
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<title>aa-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>aa-sources</c> was a heavily modified kernel with all kinds of patches. |
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The upstream maintainer has stopped releasing kernel patchsets, this package |
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was removed as it went out of date. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>alpha-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>alpha-sources</c> was a 2.4 kernel with patches applied to improve hardware |
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compatibility for the Alpha architecture. These patches have been developed |
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and included in the mainline kernel. Alpha users can now run any recent kernel |
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with no need for extra patches. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>development-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>development-sources</c>, the official 2.6 kernel from kernel.org, can now |
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be found under the <c>vanilla-sources</c> package. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>gentoo-dev-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>gentoo-dev-sources</c>, a 2.6 kernel patched with bug, security and |
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stability fixes, can now be found under the <c>gentoo-sources</c> package. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>rsbac-dev-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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The <c>rsbac-dev-sources</c> kernels can now be found under the |
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<c>rsbac-sources</c> package. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>selinux-sources</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>selinux-sources</c>, a 2.4 kernel including lots of security enhancements, |
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has been obseleted by security development in the 2.6 tree. SELinux |
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functionality can be found in the <c>hardened-sources</c> and |
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<c>hardened-dev-sources</c> packages. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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|
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</guide> |
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