Normally, you don't "patch" a kernel: you install the kernel that was provided for you by the publisher of the distro you are using. This kernel was built-from-source and aggressively tested
for you.
When changes are made to the kernel, they're almost always made in
source-code form, then the whole kernel-image is recompiled. On my systems, it takes all of about ten minutes to completely "re-do" my (very stripped down) kernel images completely from scratch. But again, this is not something that
you normally do, nor should do.
"One false move... the
slightest screw-up..."
