i wont to updated my kernel to 2.6.9 so i downloaded the kernel-source package. i found also a patch for this kernel and i got it. and now? how can i install it?

I am assuming that you want to know how to apply the patch to the kernel, and that you have compiled kernels before. If you have never compiled a new kernel before, I would recommend that you learn that part out first, then start playing around with patches.

As for applying the patch, I am assuming that it is in diff format (you can tell by looking at the first line of the patch... if it starts with diff then it is.)

The command to apply the patch is, oddly enough, patch. Reading the manpage on this command is highly recommended.

In this case, the most likely way to apply whatever patch you happen to have is to go into the root of your kernel source directory (very often /usr/src/linux-2.6.9) and then doing the following:

This should do the trick. To later remove the patch, you can do the following:

in the same location. This is a very basic method of patching, and sometimes you have to futz with the -p0 switch, changing it to -p1 or -p2 sometimes.