[CLUE-Talk] Kernel patching by distributions and Red Hat in specific

[B O'Fallon]

Some time ago, the question was asked about kernel patching being done

by distributions to customize it for their version of Linux, and
whether or not it would be acceptable to use the straight versions as
released rather than the version-specific ones.

I came across this article on lwn.net discussing issues over kernel
device number

     http://www.lwn.net/2001/0517/kernel.php3

In it, it mentions this

     No distributor ships a standard Linus kernel - all apply
     patches. For example, the 2.4.2 kernel shipped with Red Hat
     Linux 7.1 includes over 200 patches, including 2.4.2ac3,
     numerous performance and bugfix patches, zero-copy
     networking, TUX, and much more. See the 2.4 kernel spec file
     for the gory details. Not all distributors patch this
     heavily, but they all ship kernels which differ
     significantly from the Linus standard.

and gives this link to what I gather are the patches that Red Hat has
made to the 2.4 kernel

    http://www.lwn.net/2001/0517/a/kernel-2.4.spec.php3

which are a fair to middling number.

I leave you to your own conclusions about using a non-Red Hat kernel
release with it.

BOF