417. Briefly: Patching kernel 3.9 with the CK patchset: 3.9-ck-1

Nothing strange here -- basically the same as http://verahill.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/395-ck-kernel-on-debian-and-patching.html but with updated links.

I haven't found a good and succinct description of what the -ck patch set does and that I could link to here, but here's what it says on the Arch -ck page:

"..many Archers elect to use this package for the BFS' excellent desktop interactivity and responsiveness under any load situation. Additionally, the bfs imparts performance gains beyond interactivity"

I don't know if there are objective benchmarks that one can use to demonstrate an improvement in 'responsiveness and interactivity'. Subjectively, however, I feel that there's a slight improvement. You decide for yourself.

Begin here

sudo apt-get install kernel-package fakeroot build-essential ncurses-dev
mkdir ~/tmp
cd ~/tmp
wget https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.x/linux-3.9.2.tar.xz
tar xvf linux-3.9.2.tar.xz
cd linux-3.9.2/
wget http://ck.kolivas.org/patches/3.0/3.9/3.9-ck1/patch-3.9-ck1.bz2
bunzip2 patch-3.9-ck1.bz2
patch -p1 < patch-3.9-ck1

patching file arch/powerpc/platforms/cell/spufs/sched.c
patching file Documentation/scheduler/sched-BFS.txt
patching file Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt
patching file fs/proc/base.c
patching file include/linux/init_task.h
patching file include/linux/ioprio.h
patching file include/linux/sched.h
Hunk #6 succeeded at 2738 (offset -10 lines).
patching file init/Kconfig
patching file init/main.c
patching file kernel/delayacct.c
patching file kernel/exit.c
patching file kernel/posix-cpu-timers.c
patching file kernel/sysctl.c
patching file lib/Kconfig.debug
patching file include/linux/jiffies.h
patching file drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
patching file drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq_ondemand.c
patching file drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq_conservative.c
patching file kernel/sched/bfs.c
patching file kernel/sched/Makefile
patching file include/uapi/linux/sched.h
patching file include/linux/sched/rt.h
patching file kernel/stop_machine.c
patching file include/linux/swap.h
patching file mm/memory.c
patching file mm/swapfile.c
patching file mm/vmscan.c
patching file arch/x86/Kconfig
patching file kernel/Kconfig.hz
patching file kernel/Kconfig.preempt
patching file Makefile

make-kpkg clean
cat /boot/config-`uname -r`>.config
make oldconfig

You might now be asked a long series of questions about how the kernel should be configured (or you might not be -- depending on what kernel version you're currently running). In MOST cases you can select the default option (i.e. hit enter) but you should still read each question and consider it. Making a mistake won't break your computer, so don't be scared.

Next, start the compilation (will take a while):

time fakeroot make-kpkg -j4 --initrd kernel_image kernel_headers
sudo dpkg -i ../linux*3.9-ck*.deb

where 4 is the number of cores on your machine (note: it only has to do with compiling -- you can use the compiled binaries on any number of cores).

Anyway, that's all -- you've now patched, compiled and installed a new kernel. And it didn't even hurt.