New stable kernel released

The kernel 2.6.31 has been released as stable/mainstream. I spent hours configuring it, and then I compiled it. I realized I made a mistake in configuring it, and so I did the whole process again. My favorite section is labeled "Kernel Hacking" (see below). I saw many interesting things such as support for my BlackBerry phone that I compiled directly into the kernel (not as a module), support for things having to do with Playstations, etc.

For those who have never seen what it looks like to configure a kernel, here is a screenshot I am providing.

Before getting it right with trial and error, lots of determination and patience, my system was unstable and I was having to use the "Reboot Even If System Utterly Broke" technique to safely reboot my computer.


Advantages to configuring and compiling a vanilla kernel straight from the creator of Linux himself (Linus Torvalds) Linus + Unix = Linux

1. You get to remove unneeded support for hardware you don't use. For example, I compiled this for my desktop, hate bluetooth, etc., so I removed all support for that, and it makes the kernel smaller and boot faster, use less resources, and system running faster. Pre-Compiled Kernels that come with distros are made to work on a wide variety of hardware to work on many machines, and therefore you can tailor the kernel to your specific needs and hardware.
   
2. Unpatched and unmodified: You can choose your own patches to include and not include the ones you do not want. Example: I want a patch for my open source wireless driver to support packet injection (creating IVs Initialization Vectors) used to test my wireless security to determine how easy my wireless network can be broken into (key/passphrase obtained through hacking/cracking).
   
3. Latest hardware support: Even if all your hardware works, it is likely that some improvements have been made in the kernel for some of your hardware devices, and they will work even better.
4. A learning experience for those who want to know the ends and outs of Linux.
5. With Debian based distros such as Ubuntu, you can use make-kpkg instead of make install to create a Debian .deb package of your kernel and kernel headers.
   

This post is not meant to be a guide, but if I get enough requests for one, I can work on creating a guide.

Tip: For those new to configuring the kernel, start by loading your distro's default .config that was used to make the stock distro kernel located in /boot/config... and then start making changes. If you see something you aren't completely sure what to do, leave it the way it is or Google it and read the help menu until you fully understand what you are doing before making any specific changes.

In other News, I was able to get a resolution of 3648x1536 with dual monitors, and for those who do not know what that means. It is a measurement in pixels of width x height.

Width: 3648 pixels
Height: 1536 pixels

I played around with Compiz Fusion using these dual monitors, and it's very nice :)

Below is a video demonstration of Compiz Fusion running on Ubuntu Jaunty.