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Optimizations for Source-Based Distributions?

Posted by Cliff on from the obsessive-compusive-about-your-cycles dept.

Kenny Mann asks: "I currently run a Linux distribution called Lunar Linux and it is a source based distribution branched from the original Sorcerer GNU Linux. I've done a bit of research on compiler optimizations and such and was wondering what kind of performance is there really to be had for setting these options? I know that the more options the greater chance of unexpected failures, so my next question is what about optimizing your kernel?" Optimization is tricky, and I think the answer to this question is more complex than "yes, optimize" or "no, don't optimize". Rather there might be classes of applications that are safe to optimize and classes of applications that are not. How do those performance hounds out there feel about optimizing the kernel, however?

3 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. IMO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Latest versions of GLIBC and Kernel and XFree 4.3 are more important than optimisations.

  2. Why the tweak? by OldMiner · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Someone already commented on this somewhere, it could have been FidoNET or Slashdot, so I'll paraphrase. Anyhow, the upshot is that there are two things about Linux.

    1. It's an OS that can be used to run programs which occupy your full time.
    2. Two, it's an OS that can be tweaked endlessly to occupy one's full time.

    The lady or gentleman who finds it more entertaining to tweak the kernel than play Quake is that much geekier and worthy of respect in my book. It's just important that such a person realizes, aside from gaining some small amount of technical knowledge and problem-solving skills, such an act is also little more productive than a fragfest.

    --
    You like splinters in your crotch? -Jon Caldara
  3. Re:Source distros by Otter · · Score: 3, Insightful
    It's like the (apocryphal, I assume) story about Einstein explaining relativity: When a man spends a minute sitting on a hot stove, it seems like an hour. When he spends an hour sitting with a pretty girl, it seems like a minute.

    Staying up all night to recompile KDE seems like a minute. Every millisecond spent waiting for a response after clicking a button seems like an hour.

    See, it's scientific! As a physics genius, surely you should be familiar with the basic implications of general relativity.

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...