I was wondering since slackware is compiled for a 386, that means it doesn't take advantage of any of the newer processors' instructions right? So does that everything installed from, say slack 8.1 would run faster had it been compiled for a 586 or 686?

I'm only asking because I'm new to linux and it seems other distributions with the same programs (ie konqueror) ran faster.

thanks for the info.

The i386 is an indicator for an Intel type CPU and bus. It is often called a "port". There are many different types of computers in operation and they require dirfferent ports of the same code. If you look in the arch subdirectory of the kernel source you will find at least 15 different ports for the kernel, and i386 is just one of them. It really does not indicate the CPU that is compiled for. However, when a kernel is compiled for an i386 architecture the specific CPU type instructions are an option. The default kernels provided with Slack use the minimum CPU for broadest compatibility. (386 I think)

You will need to build a custom kernel to provide support for a different CPU. That is really the only CPU specific part of any Linux distro. All the libraries and programs are dependent on the kernel for their operation. Building a custom kernel will usually help performance considerably if using a relatively new high speed CPU.

If you do decide to build a custom kernel, Slack 8.1 shipped with 2.4.18 kernel. I have seen come problems with the VM system in memory management with 2.4.18. I have had to switch to 2.4.19 to resolve my issues. I have not tried 2.4.20 as yet.

For a starting place on building a custom kernel, even if 2.4.19 or 2.4.20, use the .config file the 2.4.18 kernel that you are currently running. All the options will be set the same as they are now. You will only need to modify the CPU type and then proceed with build and install process.

Good luck

I upgraded to 2.4.20 and recompiled it for my Duron after I installed Slack and it is very fast in KDE3 same speed doing things as my WinXP partition.

What I havn't figured out yet is how to get modules to load automatically so I just have everything turned on rather than module so I can't help you (yet) with how to streamline that kernel properly.

Rob

RRepster,

I just insert the module commands that I need in the /etc/rc.d/rc.local file. That file is executed every time Slack boots. That insures the load process in the order that is required for me and helps keep all the custom stuff separate from the other files.

you should use the /etc/rc.d/rc.modules file