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menu "Code maturity level options"
config EXPERIMENTAL
bool "Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers"
---help---
Some of the various things that Linux supports (such as network
drivers, file systems, network protocols, etc.) can be in a state
of development where the functionality, stability, or the level of
testing is not yet high enough for general use. This is usually
known as the "alpha-test" phase among developers. If a feature is
currently in alpha-test, then the developers usually discourage
uninformed widespread use of this feature by the general public to
avoid "Why doesn't this work?" type mail messages. However, active
testing and use of these systems is welcomed. Just be aware that it
may not meet the normal level of reliability or it may fail to work
in some special cases. Detailed bug reports from people familiar
with the kernel internals are usually welcomed by the developers
(before submitting bug reports, please read the documents
<file:README>, <file:MAINTAINERS>, <file:REPORTING-BUGS>,
<file:Documentation/BUG-HUNTING>, and
<file:Documentation/oops-tracing.txt> in the kernel source).
This option will also make obsoleted drivers available. These are
drivers that have been replaced by something else, and/or are
scheduled to be removed in a future kernel release.
Unless you intend to help test and develop a feature or driver that
falls into this category, or you have a situation that requires
using these features, you should probably say N here, which will
cause the configurator to present you with fewer choices. If
you say Y here, you will be offered the choice of using features or
drivers that are currently considered to be in the alpha-test phase.
endmenu
menu "General setup"
config SWAP
bool "Support for paging of anonymous memory"
depends on MMU
default y
help
This option allows you to choose whether you want to have support
for socalled swap devices or swap files in your kernel that are
used to provide more virtual memory than the actual RAM present
in your computer. If unsure say Y.
config SYSVIPC
bool "System V IPC"
---help---
Inter Process Communication is a suite of library functions and
system calls which let processes (running programs) synchronize and
exchange information. It is generally considered to be a good thing,
and some programs won't run unless you say Y here. In particular, if
you want to run the DOS emulator dosemu under Linux (read the
DOSEMU-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.tldp.org/docs.html#howto>), you'll need to say Y
here.
You can find documentation about IPC with "info ipc" and also in
section 6.4 of the Linux Programmer's Guide, available from
<http://www.tldp.org/docs.html#guide>.
config BSD_PROCESS_ACCT
bool "BSD Process Accounting"
help
If you say Y here, a user level program will be able to instruct the
kernel (via a special system call) to write process accounting
information to a file: whenever a process exits, information about
that process will be appended to the file by the kernel. The
information includes things such as creation time, owning user,
command name, memory usage, controlling terminal etc. (the complete
list is in the struct acct in <file:include/linux/acct.h>). It is
up to the user level program to do useful things with this
information. This is generally a good idea, so say Y.
config SYSCTL
bool "Sysctl support"
---help---
The sysctl interface provides a means of dynamically changing
certain kernel parameters and variables on the fly without requiring
a recompile of the kernel or reboot of the system. The primary
interface consists of a system call, but if you say Y to "/proc
file system support", a tree of modifiable sysctl entries will be
generated beneath the /proc/sys directory. They are explained in the
files in <file:Documentation/sysctl/>. Note that enabling this
option will enlarge the kernel by at least 8 KB.
As it is generally a good thing, you should say Y here unless
building a kernel for install/rescue disks or your system is very
limited in memory.
config LOG_BUF_SHIFT
int "Kernel log buffer size" if DEBUG_KERNEL
default 17 if ARCH_S390
default 16 if X86_NUMAQ || IA64
default 15 if SMP
default 14
help
Select kernel log buffer size as a power of 2.
Defaults and Examples:
17 => 128 KB for S/390
16 => 64 KB for x86 NUMAQ or IA-64
15 => 32 KB for SMP
14 => 16 KB for uniprocessor
13 => 8 KB
12 => 4 KB
menuconfig EMBEDDED
bool "Remove kernel features (for embedded systems)"
help
This option allows certain base kernel features to be removed from
the build. This is for specialized environments which can tolerate
a "non-standard" kernel. Only use this if you really know what you
are doing.
config FUTEX
bool "Enable futex support" if EMBEDDED
default y
help
Disabling this option will cause the kernel to be built without
support for "fast userspace mutexes". The resulting kernel may not
run glibc-based applications correctly.
config EPOLL
bool "Enable eventpoll support" if EMBEDDED
default y
help
Disabling this option will cause the kernel to be built without
support for epoll family of system calls.
endmenu # General setup
menu "Loadable module support"
config MODULES
bool "Enable loadable module support"
help
Kernel modules are small pieces of compiled code which can be
inserted in or removed from the running kernel, using the programs
insmod and rmmod. This is described in the file
<file:Documentation/modules.txt>, including the fact that you have
to say "make modules" in order to compile the modules that you chose
during kernel configuration. Modules can be device drivers, file
systems, binary executable formats, and so on. If you think that you
may want to make use of modules with this kernel in the future, then
say Y here. If unsure, say Y.
config MODULE_UNLOAD
bool "Module unloading"
depends on MODULES
help
Without this option you will not be able to unload any
modules (note that some modules may not be unloadable
anyway), which makes your kernel slightly smaller and
simpler. If unsure, say Y.
config MODULE_FORCE_UNLOAD
bool "Forced module unloading"
depends on MODULE_UNLOAD && EXPERIMENTAL
help
This option allows you to force a module to unload, even if the
kernel believes it is unsafe: the kernel will remove the module
without waiting for anyone to stop using it (using the -f option to
rmmod). This is mainly for kernel developers and desperate users.
If unsure, say N.
config OBSOLETE_MODPARM
bool
default y
depends on MODULES
help
You need this option to use module parameters on modules which
have not been converted to the new module parameter system yet.
If unsure, say Y.
config MODVERSIONS
bool "Module versioning support (EXPERIMENTAL)"
depends on MODULES && EXPERIMENTAL
help
Usually, you have to use modules compiled with your kernel.
Saying Y here makes it sometimes possible to use modules
compiled for different kernels, by adding enough information
to the modules to (hopefully) spot any changes which would
make them incompatible with the kernel you are running. If
you say Y here, you will need a copy of genksyms. If
unsure, say N.
config KMOD
bool "Kernel module loader"
depends on MODULES
help
Normally when you have selected some drivers and/or file systems to
be created as loadable modules, you also have the responsibility to
load the corresponding modules (using the programs insmod or
modprobe) before you can use them. If you say Y here however, the
kernel will be able to load modules for itself: when a part of the
kernel needs a module, it runs modprobe with the appropriate
arguments, thereby loading the module if it is available. (This is a
replacement for kerneld.) Say Y here and read about configuring it
in <file:Documentation/kmod.txt>.
endmenu