[ale] Monolithic vs Modularised Kernels

[James Sumners]

Also, a kernel that supports modules provides another point of attack. Once your system is compromised a ghost module can be loaded.

The only reason I even enable module support is so that I can load the nvidia drivers.

On 09 Jul 2003 17:24:40 -0400
Danny Cox <danscox at mindspring.com> wrote:

> Raju,
> 
> On Wed, 2003-07-09 at 08:56, Raju wrote:
> > The Client that I am doing for is finally pushing Linux into the
> > enterprise. Amazing how chap11 can actually help promote better and much
> > more superior technologies ;-). I am feverishly replacing a lot of the
> > servers with Linux (Redhat) that use to the run the piece of sh!%$^%$ NT ,
> > but using a vanilla kernel with the grsecurity patch. Some examples are,
> > Samba for the PDC, WINS, Print Server, and even the  production database
> > running Sybase (HP-UX) will soon be on Linux. My question is whether to
> > build a Monolithic or Modularised Kernel. Read several arguments on
> > google, but wanted to see your views. Thanks.
> 
> 	Personally, I always use a kernel I built myself.  It's smaller in at
> least two ways:
> 
> 	1) modules aren't free.  They typically take just a bit more RAM than
> if it was built in.  This isn't just in the extra module linkage, but in
> some trampoline code that is required to run a module's code.  Something
> about the RAM the module's code lives in isn't part of the kernel's
> address space, and so an extra indirection must be made to access any
> kernel memory location.
> 
> 	2) if you use a module that will be loaded all the time, then what's
> the point of using a module?  Think of an ethernet driver, for example. 
> 
> 	Totally modulear kernels are great for distributions like RedHat or
> SuSE, because they work out of the box.  If you build your own, though,
> it will have only those drivers and features you want to have, and will
> typically be smaller.
> 
> 	HTH!
> 
> -- 
> kernel, n.: A part of an operating system that preserves the
> medieval traditions of sorcery and black art.
> 
> Danny
> 
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All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted. 

Missionara Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59
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