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Why would someone want to compile a new kernel? It is often not necessary since the default ker- nel shipped with Ubuntu handles most configurations. Also, Ubuntu often offers several alternative kernels. So you may want to check first if there is an alternative kernel image package that better corresponds to your hardware. However, it can be useful to compile a new kernel in order to:
• handle special hardware needs, or hardware conflicts with the pre-supplied kernels
• use options of the kernel which are not supported in the pre-supplied kernels (such as high memory support)
• optimize the kernel by removing useless drivers to speed up boot time
• create a monolithic instead of a modularized kernel
• run an updated or development kernel
• learn more about linux kernels
8.6.1. Kernel Image Management