> I am using Slack 7.1 with a 2.2.16 kernel.  Everything works fine, so I
put
> off upgrading the kernel until the new Slack version comes out (god only
> knows when).  It is supposed to have the 2.4 kernel.  It is much smoother?
> What do you mean by that?  Is it faster, or do programs run without
freezing
> the system for a split second - as it sometimes does?  I want to upgrade
to
> the new kernel, but I don't know if my current installation is ready (and
how
> would I know whether or not I can run the kernel?).  I am hesitant to
upgrade
> to the new kernel because I will have to recompile a few apps that depend
on
> kernel code, and also because I don't know if my system will support it.
> What are the benefits and / or new features that 2.4 offers?  Things seem
to
> be running o.k. with 2.2.16?  Should I even bother with the new kernel?

Sounds like you didn't make the last plug meeting :)

Basicly the 2.4 kernel handles ram and SMP machines a lot better.... among
other things, but I think those 2 things are the main ones that are helping
speed things up on my machine.
As for "smoother", there is just this feeling that things run more at a
constant speed without a lot of little bitty hichups in speed.  Everything
seems to also run a little faster as well.
Similar things can be said about the 4.0.1 X server.  That seemed to speed
things up quite a bit, but I would only recomend upgrading if you know your
video card is fully supported.  I had to wait till 4.0.1 till my G200 in my
work machine got decent drivers, but now... OH WOW!!!  it's fast.   I had
been running 4.0.0 on my home machine with a G-Force card, and nothing
touches the speed on that machine...  It would scare you how fast it is.
(The sproingies screen saver is a blur)

You are probably best off just just waiting, especially if you know that you
will need to recompile some programs on your system.  That is a sign that
it's NOT ready for the kernel.  In my case, I just had to compile kernel and
install it... thats it.

Brian