Why are people afraid to compile their own programs and kernels?

Hi,
My opinion is that a lot of people are just down right lazy! That is that they don't want to spend the time to learn their system and want someone else to know said system thus allowing a turn key by auto sensing.

We have a lot of 'Distro Bunnies' because they think jumping from one distro to another will help them to get a better OS. Yet this moving from one to another never allows them to truly ever understand anything about the OS. Then they curse the distro and blame it for a solvable problem that warrants a little work on their part.

As for Slackware 11.0, PV will release it when he's ready!

My Bad. I simply suggested to use Debian with 2.6, cuz I did not know that the Slackware CDs come with the 2.6 kernel.

Because most people have used Windows before, where this seems unnatural.
Also, the amount of options in a kernel may be intimidating at first.
Finally, building an application is a major job as well, less and less apps compile with the common "configure; make; make install".

Same here, NvidiaFX5200, gamer, 2.6.15 i686. No issues at all.
Just curious, why you need 2.6? care to post in why upgrade 2.6??? http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=411493
Regards

I only moved from 2.2 to 2.4 around the time of
2.2.22 and 2.4.18 ... the current steps in the 2.6
(e.g. 2.6.15.1 .2 .3 .4) series don't really give me
much confidence, and I only use 2.6 on one machine (the
one with the TV card) because its driver wasn't back-ported
to 2.4 ... my 2 cents.



Cheers,
Tink

I don't think it's necessarily a question of laziness. Many people (including me) simply don't find it worth while with good quality packages readily available. The time that I would have to spend compiling everything far exceeds the marginal performance benefit possibly gained with it. I do compile some things (if they're not available otherwise), but compiling everything is in my opinion insane. Why do the once done job over and over again?

Furthermore, I don't think that learning to compile your own packages has absolutely anything to do with getting to know the system. It's a routine job and the basic procedure is practically identical in every distro. If you want to gain a deep understanding on a certain distro, you can certainly use your time better than compiling everything from source.

It actually does help you understand the OS a bit more. As there may be deps that have to be installed and you then further understand how programs work and all. I agrea though, if you can get a slackball of something that would take you hours on your own to compile thats one thing, but if it's something that would take 5-10 minutes i do it myself as i can have it compiled simple for my system. I've even found out that some of the pre-compiled slackballs that i've gotten from sites like linuxpackages.net dont' work on my system because for some odd reason they can't find some library files but i have no problem with it if i compile it myself. As for the whole issue of the 2.6 kernel not being stable thats a load of crap. I'm in no way saying Pat is stupid for not moving on from the 2.4 kernel. He has his reason's and they are very good reasons. If he thought that the 2.6 kernel was far to unstable for use he prolly wouldn't even bother to make some packages available for slackware of them. I think he's more or less waiting for it to be stable for a certain period of time before moving on, you know sorta like not relying on one test to prove something. You can just d/l and do an upgradepkg on the latest 2.6 kernel from the slackware tree, run lilo, and reboot and you'll be on the latest kernel. Although i would advise that you re-compile it once you get going on the new kernel.

I always compile my own kernel. Why?

1. The default config is WAY too generic. Why do I want a 1gbit ethernet driver when the max speed on my network is 100? Along the same lines, I have no TV type cards, nor 15 different chipsets on my motherboards.
2. Size of the kernel and sheer number of modules. I always pare it down to the bare essentials.
3. It only takes 5-10 minutes to recompile for new options I may need. After the first compile, it's a breeze.
4. Marked increase in speed and usability. I know what is/isn't compiled into the kernel, and what modules I have.

Just my two cents...

Well i'm talking about those lazy people, not you in general.

Sure, we've all been there. I guess my original post was aimed at people in the IT world. I'm interviewing assistants for my department and every applicant is hung up on manuals and vender support contracts. One, when asked about changing toner in printers, asked if we had a support contract for that.

I guess I've always thought IT was about relying on your own experience, training, and research skills; not calling someone.

Using precompiled packages is hit-or-miss. Want GD and FreeType compiled in with PHP? What I mean is that with compiling your system is your own. Only the options you want/need and no guessing.

Compiling programs an essential part of learning (and creating) your system. Just try installing Linux From Scratch. You'll be amazed with how much you learn and better understand ANY distro you choose from there on out.

Such a statement assumes too much. I seldom compile software because (1) I am stuck on dialup and downloading source code is impractical, (2) my hardware is old and compiling usually requires too much of my time, and (3) compiling often is unnecessary when package and distro maintainers have already done this. My reasons have nothing at all to do with being afraid---and I have compiled the kernel to suit my specific preferences.

Another assumption. All people assign differing values on how they use their time. Every human gets only so many ticks of the clock and then they are history. I suspect that many people here at LQ also do not change the oil on their cars. Are they lazy too or are they actually intelligent people who have decided that for their particular lives, paying somebody else to perform that task is more cost-effective in the long run? There are no right or wrong answers---only personal choices.

And this personal decision-making of those people, which apparently they have decided is the correct decision for their lives, affects you how?

I agree. I suspect that more than 90% of the people who operate automobiles don't have a clue how combustion engines, differentials, gears, ignition circuits, starters, disc brakes, digital circuitry, embedded computers, distributors, etc., all work. Does that mean the majority of all such people are lazy or stupid? Possibly only the pompous and self-righteous would declare as much.

For many people the argument or debate is not a question of learning. The question is which interests and desires in life receive priority? Each person perceives life differently and assigns different priorities. Time is a scarce resource because no human has yet figured out how to beat the death sentence. Nor has any human yet figured out how to be in two or more places simultaneously. Only so many ticks on the clock. . .

Three of my immediate neighbors do not own personal computers nor do they visit any place to use a public computer. One of my neighbors owns no TV. Two of my immediate neighbors are skilled wood workers and have spent years devoting time to develop those skills rather than developing other skills. Similarly, two neighbors are skilled mechanics and can rip apart and reassemble just about anything. Three of us in this neighborhood purposely choose to manually spend time cutting and burning wood to heat our homes rather than pay overpriced fees to propane dealers. In my house there are no iPods, PDAs, Walkmans, or any other such gadget and my TV is 27 years old. One of my neighbors decided to devote many years to home schooling all three of their children. Now how is that for assigning priorities in life? Most people who use computers have no more desire to be a computer geek than they desire to be a professional auto mechanic, weekend motorhead, or carpenter. Most people merely seek to be reasonably proficient users and that is all they want. They perceive computers as a tool and not as a hobby or profession. I really tire of seeing these kinds of pompous attitudes among computer users. This is a big world and there is plenty of room for the differing choices people make about life.

In my opinion, most of those attitudes are leftovers from the days of having to read 3inch thick manuals just to know how to push a button. When I got started in the IT industry, I came at the tailend of that era. IT has the power and no one else knows diddly squat. LOL How wrong I was! Now, I empower end users to rip the benefits from the computers sitting on their desks. I used to say: "Let me sit down so I can fix that!". Now, it's all about: "No, please stay in your chair. I'm going to show how to fix it for your future reference." People respond well to that and they don't cope an attitude towards me and don't perceive me as Mr. know it all.

I still joke around with the guys about user error and ID10T error codes and what not. But that's just for ol' times sake and nothing more! LOL

10.2 is given with a 2.6.13 kernel
afterall slackware is stable but kernel... that u decide, if u want new get it and compile, i am running 2.6.15
s go for 2.6.8 and debian, if not happy with 2.6.13 with slack