Yes. If you have not removed the kernel-headers package, it's still there. If you have any files in /usr/include/linux and /usr/include/asm, you have kernel headers.

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In addition to direct uses of kernel headers, some glibc headers also reference kernel headers, for example the glibc header file <sys/syscall.h> references <asm/unistd.h> which is a kernel header file.

The vast majority of SlackBuilds on SBo compile from source.

Thanks! That's very interesting because I just checked and there are many files and directories in /usr/include/linux but the odd thing is some are dated just a week ago and I haven't installed kernel headers on this system in 2 years. I further checked and my 32 bit 14.2 install which began as 12.2 (2008 - which was the only time I installed kernel headers)... has files and directories from 2018 which is about the last time i built a kernel in it.

So I'm wondering if there is overlap, if building kernels creates at least the equivalent of headers?

Of course I realize that. It just feels different and lazier since the convenience (and quality) of the scripts tends to make me lazy where I no longer read every line of ./configure. Actually lots of source these days doesn't even include a base configure file relying on some form of "automake" to build one.