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[International / GSM] Kernel? What does it do for me?

CaucasionJ

CaucasionJ

Well-Known Member
Coming from the X, I don't have a clue how to mess with kernels or what the do for me and the phone other then the bare basics. Any knowlege thown my way would be sweet and could answer questions that other people have too. ;)
 
Kernels control the speeds the processor runs at as well as when it runs at what speed (the governor built into the kernel controls this). Some kernels allow for greater underclocking/overclocking than others. Some also undervolt the phone and allow you to tweak it as you see fit. Personally I think kernels have a greater effect on battery than any thing else you can flash. After changing you may need to give it a day or two to settle in before you can accurately judge the performance of the kernel. Kernels have different governor options you will see each handles scaling of the CPU differently than others. If you have questions about specific terms be sure to ask :D
 
+1 to what Yeahha said (seriously, when you do you sleep, man? ;) :)).

At first I was going to post this (:p):
popcorn-kernels.jpg
and then I thought I'd better post this instead:
kernel.png
Here's a really good write-up (now that they are back on-line):

Kernel (computing) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In computing, the kernel is the main component of most computer operating systems; it is a bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level. The kernel's responsibilities include managing the system's resources (the communication between hardware and software components).[1] Usually as a basic component of an operating system, a kernel can provide the lowest-level abstraction layer for the resources (especially processors and I/O devices) that application software must control to perform its function. It typically makes these facilities available to application processes through inter-process communication mechanisms and system calls.

Operating system tasks are done differently by different kernels, depending on their design and implementation. While monolithic kernels execute all the operating system code in the same address space to increase the performance of the system, microkernels run most of the operating system services in user space as servers, aiming to improve maintainability and modularity of the operating system.[2] A range of possibilities exists between these two extremes.
Click to expand...
The best, most concise summary I found in that page was this:

The kernel's primary function is to manage the computer's resources and allow other programs to run and use these resources.

Cheers!
 
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