Dear Linux user,

We are a group of researchers from Chalmers University of Technology and TU Darmstadt, and we are part of the kconfig-sat project. We are working on adding interactive dependency-resolution support to the Linux kernel configurator xconfig. If you are familiar with configuring the kernel, we would be very thankful if you could take the time to fill out a short survey that will provide data to help us design and evaluate a better dependency-resolution mechanism. Filling out the survey should not take more than 5 minutes of your time.

The survey is available at: http://goo.gl/forms/t5zu5KPN0N

It is possible to fill out the form without a Google account. No names, email-addresses or other identifying information will be collected or published.

Thank you for your time.

Probably a useful project. I personally have been configuring kernels since 1997, I guess I had some difficulties back then. I'm happy using mostly nconfig, running xconfig or gconfig requires extra steps to do remotely. I tried your survey, but most questions didn't make sense to me, sorry.

I filled out the survey with only rare and minor ambiguity and I,too, routinely build my own and have so since circa 2000. There is less need than there used to be, once true on-demand module loading became a reality, but there are still important advantages, not the least of which is not waiting on repos. Also I very much dislike the added complexity of initrd and as I don't encrypt any file systems, I don't need it at all provided I build my own with hard-wired fs support. I do audio recording and editings and this machine doubles as a DAW so I really do need realtime,. low-latency kernels and just bask in the plusses those afford gaming. There was a time when all my elite IRC buddies frowned on using xconfig, but I used it then and still do since I like having all 3 parts (tree, sub-section and option, and help) showing all at once. Back on 2x kernels I made a script to do it all in order but for about 2 years I've pretty much followed

Alien Bob's Easy Method

I think they need more responses from the "I want it now" gen.
I'm happy to wait for a kernel to compile on a raspberry pi ... :shrug:

Sorry, I didn't understand most of it either. What do you mean by issues? I use menuconfig and depend a lot on kernel help. I would give that help system the highest marks in the book; it's the only one I've ever met that tells you not only what an option does but whether you need it or not.

I don't have a problem with dependencies. If some option isn't available, I assume it isn't relevant to my system. I wouldn't go back and start changing other options that I don't really understand, because that way you can screw up badly.

Mainly I just try to pare off everything that I know I don't need so as to get a kernel that loads fast.

There are dependencies and there are options you may need but they are not displayed because the deps are not met. In make nconfig you can hit F8 to search and it will tell you what dependencies are needed to have the option enabled for you. In make menuconfig you can hit '/' to search, again it will show you dependencies needed. You may need to use arrow right to see all of them.
Next suggestion is to have a look at README file. There are make targets you may not aware of, like make localmodconfig.

The culmination of my kernel configuration experiences are:

Download source, edit .config file, compile, install and test/run. If I've modified actual code I usually add printk() calls to show that my code is either active or to help me debug it. I do not use the graphical configuration tool. I've taken the time to learn kernel boot options. I do this for custom embedded systems, my desktops I just install full distros and rarely bother modifying the kernel.

Sorry, no time, nor tolerance for surveys; however well versus poorly the survey was made, I did not choose to look. I block scripts, and ads and don't wish to tweak my browser just to do a one-time survey. Many times I find that surveys are also "guided/limited" such that they wish to get answers in a form that follows their agenda.

I usually upgrade the kernel from the repos. If I want to use a kernel higher than what the repos offer, I will then download the new kernel source and untar it. I will then copy the old .config file to use as a template from the previous kernel version and copy it to the new kernel src folder.

I will then use make silentoldconfig which will use the values from the older .config file.

Any new feature of the new kernel that isn't in the old .config file will prompt me for an answer. If I don't know what the feature is because kernels are complex, I will keep the default answer.

I always make sure that certain modules be built-in into the kernel like filesystems, SCSI and SATA disk support.

After that, compile the kernel, make the modules, copy the kernel image and System.map files to the boot directory, modify bootloader and pray all goes well.