Re: A newbie's view

["Thomas Womack" <thomas.womack@merton.oxford.ac.uk>]

>huh?  /usr/src/linux/.config contains your settings.  if you don't lose
>that file, then moving from kernel to kernel is a matter of "make oldconfig",
>and occasionally answering questions about new features.

That's true, and helpful - but it does nothing about the terror you feel the
first time when you're asked umpteen questions about hardware you don't have and
options you don't understand. The help text has been getting more helpful, the
make xconfig is much nicer because you can go back and change your options when
you realise you didn't read something right, but there's still a feeling that
I'm being asked about a lot of options which could be probed for.

ELF format support (Y/N/M)?

(where N or M make the kernel unbootable)

is perhaps an extreme example - and you could get around it with just a

'You selected N or M for ELF or IDE support. This will probably make the kernel
unbootable. Press F3 to confirm your choice'

follow-up line, but ...

Tom


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