Upgrading the kernel
 

I really want to upgrade my kernel, but I always run into problems, so before I just dive in and finally do it, can I mess things up pretty bad if I screw up? This is the only comp and OS that I really ever use.

you shouldn't really have a problem as long as you keep the existing configuration and kernel installed while testing the new one. make a new section in your /etc/lilo.conf file or grub's equivalent and don't set it as the default either. doing that you'll be fine. the worst that's likely to happen is that it'll simply panic or hang.. then you can just reboot and use the normal config fine.

should I get the kernel from kernel.org or try redhat. Also, theres patches and theres the full version right? which should I dl?

RedHat's updated kernels are still a bit older than i'd use, so yeah, if I had to spend the time downloading a big file like kernel source or an update i'd go for the newest one from kernel.org. 2.4.18 i believe is still the newest. You could use patches, but you'd need to download each one and patch the kernel in sequence. You'd end up downloading the same amount of info and it's less hassle to get the full source, then when 2.4.19 comes out, you can just use the patch to go from 2.4.18-2.4.19 and so on.