hi all,
there was a posting a week or so ago about the smallest usable linux
kernel and the poster inidcated he had got about 360k by throwing away
'useless' things like networking. unfortunately, the replies went off
track into smallest usable linux systems, toms root-boot floppies, run
linux off a cd and such. first off, i suspect that the size given is not
the actual kernel size but the bzipped kernel size. if we want limited
functionality, we can get really small by using the older kernels. for
example, current 2.4 version kernels come out at about 360k for minimal
functionality. with 2.0.36 (redhat 5.2), a minimal kernel bzips to about
200k (with only ide, ext2fs and console support). with 2.0.0, i have a
gzipped kernel with full functionality (networking, nfs/nis etc etc) of
about 400k - this is the old aero server which is currently taking a much
needed break! when break time is over, i will try compiling a minimal
kernel and see how small it will go. kernels of that vintage dont support
bzipped format. if a smaller kernel is the goal, one could easily switch
to the older and less functional kernels.
sriram
