does compiling from source avoid kernel version probs?
 

ok this may be a really dumb question but i'm curious because i've tried to install a couple of pre-compiled programs and they wouldn't work because it said 'wrong kernel version' or something. so if i download the binaries and compile from source will it be built for my kernel version?
thanks,
disorderly

It depends. Some apps may require a minimum kernel version to run, ie must have 2.4.20 or better, so installing a new version there will help (tho this is not that common and it's more usual they will require a minimum library version or somesuch). Others will only work with older 2.4 kernels and not newer 2.6 kernels...

Other apps (usually things like drivers - nvidia, etc) require and exact kernel version to work.

We really need to know which apps and error messages to give a better ansewer.