From: chris@mshome.net   
      
   On 16/04/2024 at 14:51, Lew Pitcher wrote:   
   > On Tue, 16 Apr 2024 14:33:47 +0100, Chris Elvidge wrote:   
   >   
   >> Slackware current - VirtualBox 7.0.14   
   >>   
   >> I normally use the huge kernel with no problems but the other day I   
   >> mistakenly downloaded the generic kernel, too, and noticed the   
   >> difference in size is only 2Mb. I was originally told the generic kernel   
   >> was better for memory consumption. The required initrd.gz unzips to 27Mb.   
   >>   
   >> What is the/Is there a supposed advantage of generic + initrd over huge?   
   >   
   > I believe (and others here will correct me if I am wrong) that the "generic"   
   > kernel + initrd result in less memory used in the finally running system than   
   > the "huge" kernel.   
   >   
   > Consider: once booted, the generic kernel will (should?) free any memory   
   > occupied by the initrd image, as it no longer needs the initrd image to run.   
   > The generic kernel only needs initrd because it uses (filesystem backed)   
   > modules to provide the disk controller interfaces. This results in a small   
   > initial load module for the kernel. Once executing, it only loads the   
   hardware   
   > drivers it needs, leaving all the rest alone.   
   >   
   > OTOH, the "huge" kernel has all the disk controller drivers built-in to   
   > the loaded module. Even if the kernel doesn't use the disk controller, the   
   > code is still resident in memory.   
   >   
   > So, the "huge" kernel results in a running kernel with more resident code   
   > than the "generic" kernel.   
   >   
   > Having said all that, I run the "huge" kernel; I can't be bothered with   
   > the additional initrd step if/when I upgrade my kernel, and I have the   
   > memory to support the minor additional overhead of unused drivers.   
   >   
   > HTH   
   >   
      
   These are the figures I got:   
      
   generic-6.6.27   
                   total used free shared buff/cache available   
   Mem:            2974 1084  890      7       1172      1889   
   Swap:           6143    0 6143   
   Total:          9118 1084 7034   
      
   huge-6.6.27   
                   total used free shared buff/cache available   
   Mem:            2971 1069 1201      7        870      1902   
   Swap:           6143    0 6143   
   Total:          9115 1069 7345   
      
   huge-6.8.6   
                   total used free shared buff/cache available   
   Mem:            2971 1082  907      8       1163      1889   
   Swap:           6143    0 6143   
   Total:          9115 1082 7051   
      
   So no noticeable difference AFAICS.   
   I brewed 6.8.6 from 6.6.27 .config and 'make olddefconfig'   
      
      
   --   
   Chris Elvidge, England   
   I WILL NOT USE ABBREV.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)