Cargo Cult sysadmining

[jdow]

On 2012/08/06 19:17, Mikkel L. Ellertson wrote:
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> On 08/06/2012 03:38 PM, Joe Zeff wrote:
>> On 08/06/2012 01:29 PM, Mateusz Marzantowicz wrote:
>>> On 06.08.2012 15:52, Michael Cronenworth wrote:
>>>> Tim wrote:
>>>>> Just look at the feature list on the documentation, or
> websites, and the
>>>>> idiot admins will target them first. And, if you have a desktop
> that
>>>>> still has normal menus, look through the system admin items for
> more
>>>>> ideas.
>>>> I can think of one item you missed from your list:
>>>>
>>>> Disable IPv6 (disabling it cures cancer!)
>>>
>>> OK, but what if I don't need it? You can say that it's harmless
> etc. But
>>> why the hell then, people recompile the kernel to disable other
> unused
>>> modules/features? Are they cargo cult sysadmins?
>>>
>>> Maybe it's not so bad idea to disable all unused pieces of
> software in
>>> your system?
>>>
>>
>> IMAO, it all depends on why you're disabling it. Are you doing it
> because you don't use it and don't ever expect to (Short-sighted, if
> you ask me, but it's your box, not mine.) or are you disabling it to
> avoid problems that it either doesn't cause or, at least, hasn't
> caused in a long time?
> Disabling it because the system you are compiling the kernel for
> will not support the hardware. No need for SATA, PCI, or cardbus
> stuff on a system that only has PCMCIA slots for expansion. You do
> not need the USB drivers because it does not have, USB hardware, and
> you can not find PCMCIA USB cards. (I have a cardbus USB card, but
> that does not help.) But this is not something most people run into.
>
> Compiling a kernel for a laptop will let you eliminate a lot of
> drivers because you only have limited hardware changes...
>
> A server that is not going to get hardware changes.
>
> ...
>
> Mikkel

Mikkel, I have done this once or twice in antediluvian days gone by.
Then I discovered a property of Windows. If your motherboard goes
bad and you can't replace it with an exact replacement the system and
all other software installed on that disk are suddenly useless. (Yes,
you can at least recover the files. But you cannot recover the installs.)

It is far better to keep the OS flexible so that on boot it adapts to
the system you are running. The better the OS as installed on the disk
does this the easier the effort to get up and running becomes.

I may recompile the kernel these days; but, the intent of the recompile
is to ADD features compiled out rather than the other way around.

{^_^}