> Modules have lots of little disadvantages that add up. The speed penalty
> on various platforms is one, the load/unload race complexity is another.
>
Races can be fixed. (Isn't that one of the things considered for 2.5?)
Speed penalties on various platforms is there to stay, so you simply
have to weigh that against having more swappable RAM.
I use the following rules of thumb:
1. Modules only for seldom-used devices. A module for
the mouse is no use if you do all your work in X.
There's simply no gain from a module that never unloads.
A seldom used fs may be modular though. I rarely
use cd's, so isofs is a module on my machine.
2. No modules for high-speed stuff like harddisks and network,
that's where you might feel the slowdown. Low-speed stuff
like floppy and cdrom drivers are modular though.
Helge Hafting
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