Kernel builds, Win4Lin, etc. (was: Knoppix and Gnome.)

[Benjamin Scott]

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005, at 8:01am, kend at xanoptix.com wrote:
> Back in early 2.6 days, I tried to get W4L running on my Debian box, and
> it was a total SNAFU.

  Naturally.  It's Debian.  ;-)

> [Somehow, I didn't even need to make any changes to [the kernel]
> configuration.  All the config options were set correctly for my Knoppix
> install.  Was this accomplished through the "Kernel .config support"?]

  I've often wondered this myself.  I've noticed that when I build a kernel
from pristine sources, "make menuconfig" (or whatever) sometimes seems to
mysteriously know the options I use on my system.  Other times, it appears to
choose random defaults.  I figured if I looked too closely it might stop
working.  :)

  The "Kernel .config support" feature (which embeds a copy of the kernel's
.config file in the kernel binary) is a relatively new thing, so I wouldn't
think that was it.

> As Jerry noted, it doesn't run W2K, but I don't think it ever will [though
> I'd love to be wrong].

  The Netraverse people say it should definitely be possible, although it is
decidedly not trivial, and also claim to be working hard on it.

  If you're a Win4Lin user, definitely check out their mailing list; it is
very useful, and some of the key hackers at Netraverse are frequent
contributors.

> 15 second "restart" times are something most Windows users can only dream
> about.

  Yup.  Very useful for when QuickBooks Timer decides to lock up the
"machine".  My doze-using cow-orkers have to reboot their boxes; I just
close a window.  And Windows.  *GRIN*

-- 
Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
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