Hi,

I want to ask you help me verifying some things.

I got my hands on a MIPS based Linkstation (not the older ppc for which much software can be found on the internet) and want to add functions to it.
The kernel is stored in a flash and thus can not be easily modified but it has been compiled with module support turned on.
And now I have some questions before I start trying to add functions to the kernel.

1. if the kernel was let's say compiled with a 2.95gcc it should not matter which gcc I use for compiling additional modules ?
2. I can compile any function I need as a module and have the kernel load it by using insmod ?
3. file systems (the kernel lacks iso9660 support) can also be added as a module ?

And another thing that came to my mind: are there any serious security bugs in the stock 2.4.20 kernel that should keep me from exposing the box to the internet ? (it would be located behind a firewall which would only let through ssh and perhaps http or https. So my only concern should be tcp ip stack security holes)

Thanks for your answers !

1) You have to use gcc 2.95 only and probably same binutils version.

2) Yes you can compile any functions as module as much as kernel interface supports. Read module howto and related thing on tldp.org

3) Yes filesystems can also be added.

For tcp/ip security issues search google