[Tfug] kernel options on debian

[t takahashi]

my problem with kernel howtos is that there are so many that i'm not
sure which are most up to date.  :-)

(for example, the 10-step recipe in the README for kernel-package
seems to imply that it downloads the kernel source, but i'm not so
sure.  so i look for kernel source packages, but the kernel-source and
linux-source packages don't seem to do much.  so i look for more
specific versions, and find stuff like kernel-patch-*,
kernel-source-*, and kernel-tree-*.  but those seem wrong somehow, so
i think linux-source-* might work, but....)

my needs are modest.  stock kernels crash on me, so what i do is
something like: download from kernel.org, copy .config, make
menuconfig, make modules_install, make install, reboot.  i stumble
around, perhaps copying something to /boot, and it seems to work.

i boiled my questions down to:

o should i use a linux-source-* package?  is it significant that it is
(2.6.16-10) behind kernel.org (2.6.16-11)?  what mysterious things
does debian do to it?

o if i want fuser (userspace fs), then does what i need to do depend
on whether i use a stock kernel, kernel-source, kernel.org, or
ketchup?  do i need to apt-get one of the fuser packages or can i just
menuconfig the sucker in and maybe stick it in /etc/modules?

o should i switch to using make oldconfig then menuconfig instead of
cp .config then menuconfig (maybe it doesn't matter)?

o do most people use make-kpkg or am i barking up the wrong tree by
reading its docs?  what command line do people usually use to run it
these days?  why bother with it?

well anyway, that's what i want to know that's not in the howtos i
saw.  i can keep stumbling around, but i know some of you have, like,
you know, *opinions* and stuff.

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