I thought I’d answer. Here’s the question:
So, yeah, when people say they are happy they can write their own code into Linux’s kernel, I wonder if they really do that. When the geek says he tweaks and changes things, what does he really mean? (link)
The answer?
It means that you (may – more on this this later) have very fine, granular control over what exactly is in the kernel. My Thinkpad, for example, doesn’t support ACPI nearly as well as APM, although the latter is deprecated. Problem? Nope. Just configure my kernel to support APM, and all of a sudden suspend (AKA standby) works. But this is just an example of mainline functionality already present in the kernel. What about custom patches to support new features?
Well, as most of the folks who’ve been here for a while know, I’ve been following the work of the Beagle/Dashboard (think a more proactive Google Desktop) crew for a while now, and the search at least is finally approaching readiness for an initial release. What are the requirements for this? A kernel patch (iNotify). Fortunately, Robert Love spent some time schmoozing the Gentoo devs so I’ve got it available in my Gentoo kernel sources. This level of kernel manipulation simply isn’t possible with Windows or OS X.
Now please don’t take that to mean that everyone should or will custom patch their kernel. The number of folks who will actually use this functionality are barely a speck in terms of overall marketshare. And Scoble rightly points out that kernel adjustments require subsequent investments in QA, device testing, etc.
But Scoble’s skepticism of the ability of Linux to morph itself into new forms, I think, is based on a logical fallacy – that all kernels need to be one-size fits-all. It seems to assume that each and every kernel must be suitable for massive scope production deployments. I don’t agree with that. There are plenty of situations where a functionality for potential instability tradeoff may be acceptable – even required.
From what I hear of Google’s production system, I think they’d agree. Even in some production environments, you see, customized kernels are more than adequate. Example? Well, forget Google, which is as has often been pointed out, highly unique. Instead, how about the laptop I’m using right now?
So although Scoble asked the Gourmet Geek about his love of the ability to customize Linux, I couldn’t help but butt in to offer up my own answer.
Update: Looks like the Gourmet Geek is also a Gentoo fan. Cheers, Geek 🙂
Update 2: Bonus link – ZDNet’s Berlind also took Scoble to task on the issue here.
