Kernel package questions
 

Hello all,

I have a few questions. I have updated to kernel 2.6.6 a few weeks ago, and am fully content how it is working now, after removing alsa and installing it from source. Now I am wondering...

1) Can I safely remove the kernel-2.4.22 package?
2) Can someone clear up for me what the kernel-headers package really 'means' for as far compiling things goes. I know it's needed for compiling most stuff, but since I handinstalled my kernel, do I still need the slackware one installed? If I do, is it safe to upgrade it to the 2.4.26 one without having that one installed?

Stupid questions perhaps, but the more I think about them the more unsure I get about it hehe...:rolleyes:

Thanks for reading...

1. Yep, and remove the 2.4 kernel from lilo too if it's still there.

2. The kernel headers package is:
/usr/include/asm -> asm-i386 (a soft link to asm-i386)
/usr/include/asm-i386
/usr/include/asm-generic
/usr/include/linux

As far as I know you can compile things against a different kernel version than the one your runnin, and it will still work. I haven't seen any documentation about it, but the xorg and KDE packages (and many others) were compiled against 2.4 and they run fine. Maybe there some sort of optimization by compiling against 2.6. The only reason I know about the headers is because I removed all the 2.4 kernel packages, and tried to compile an app. It wouldn't compile, it said it was missing linux headers or something, eventually I found out what folders i needed.

I haven't seen a 2.6.6 kernel headers package in slackware-current, so you have to download the source from kernel.org, and copy them over. They're in /include.

Thanks I have looked around a bit and found out that there is a testing branch with packages/linux-2.6.6 available. It has kernel-headers for 2.6.6, but dear old Pat V. put a warning there for me ;) I am going to take his advice and will just upgrade my kernel-headers to 2.4.26. :)

You said I should also remove my 2.4.22 kernel. Why is this? The kernel package only has the sources next to the compiled kernel, or am I missing something?

Hmm... insteresting, maybe I should too.

I don't quite understand what your saying there. You can remove the 2.4 kernel, modules and source if your not going to use them anymore. Or you can leave it there as a backup.

Btw are you using KDE? Have you tried KPackage? It will give you a list of what the package contains, so you can check to see what will be removed. I'm not sure if there's a way to check from the console, aside from opening up the actual package.

Sorry, I think sleep was getting the most of me last night :) Your comment of "make sure you remove 2.4.22 from lilo aswell", seems to went into my head as "make sure you remove 2.4.22 aswell", so I was wondering why that was so important. Well I am just going to remove all kernel packages slackware gave me, except the headers ofcourse. I should be fine then (I hope :)).

Thanks for everything :)