 So today, I have a question for you guys. Do you use a custom kernel? You can let me know in the comment section below. I think that the vast majority of people are just going to answer no on this, that most people use the kernel that they're distribution ships with and they're just perfectly happy with that. But I have noticed that a lot of people are very proud of the fact that they use a custom kernel and I want to talk about that a little bit today. But before we jump into that, if you leave a thumbs up on this video, I'd really appreciate it. It would really help the channel. So one of my discord mods, Jake, love you, Jake, you're awesome. But you're a little obsessed with, you know, running a custom kernel. You tell everybody about you running a custom kernel. In fact, I saw the thread that you guys were talking about the other day on my discord server that was hundreds of messages long about custom kernels. And this is not the first time that I saw such a thread. And it's not just Jake. I've seen many people that are very, very happy and very proud of the fact that they use a custom kernel and are perfectly happy to tell you about it over and over and over again. So what I want to talk about today is, well, first off, is there a benefit to running a custom kernel? And second of all, why do people need to be so proud of it? Well, we're going to talk about that today. So let's talk about the first one. Are there benefits for regular, everyday Linux users to run their own custom kernel? Well, yes. And no, it really does depend on what your situation is and why you want to do so. The there are really many reasons why you'd want to run a custom kernel, whether it's for more control. So perhaps you run Gen 2, and it's easy for you to compile your kernel with use flags and all that stuff. And it allows you to take things out of the kernel that you don't really need. Let's just say you don't need Bluetooth support. You could take that out of the kernel and save yourself some speed and lines of code, right? You could do all that stuff. If you wanted to pull stuff out of the kernel that you no longer needed, or you want to put stuff in for obscure hardware support, you could do that. So if you want that type of control, that's one reason why you'd want to run a custom kernel. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. There are other reasons, of course, that you might want to run a custom kernel. Maybe you use a brand new piece of hardware that requires a more up-to-date kernel. So maybe you're going to want to run one of the release candidate kernels. Or perhaps you want a kernel that is more dedicated to free software. So you run the Libre kernel so that you have absolutely no proprietary blobs in there whatsoever. So there are many reasons why you'd want to run a custom kernel. All of them are very specific to use cases that not everyone has. All of them are focused on one particular reason why they exist. So if it's the Libre kernel, it's going to be for people who want to use a more free and open kernel. If it's the Zen kernel. A lot of times you hear about that because it's more suited towards high end gaming hardware. There are hundreds of other custom kernels out there that are compiled in such a way that they are better for one specific use case. And if you have that one specific use case, using that kernel makes sense. So to answer the question, should you use a custom kernel? Well, the answer is as it usually is, it depends on your situation. The vast majority people, especially if you're on not bleeding edge hardware are going to be very, very happy with the kernel that their distribution ships with. And if you do have cutting edge hardware, a lot of times just focusing on a rolling release like arch or open Susan tumbleweed or even fedora, you can get the most up to date kernel that way without having to compile the most recent release candidate from kernel.org. So there are reasons why, but they're all very highly specific and tailored towards highly specific use cases. So that takes care of that question. The second question that I had to ask earlier was, why are people so proud to run custom kernels? Well, now, first of all, this is not everyone who runs a custom kernel. It's not so bad as to go so far as to say that they're like the arch Linux community. But they kind of are, if only a smaller number of them. If you talk to somebody who uses a Linux kernel that is custom, that they compile themselves, they're going to tell you about it. Probably a couple of times. They're very, very happy that they've done so because it's not a inconsiderable feat to actually compile your kernel. It takes some effort, some knowledge, some know-how to actually compile a kernel. Not everyone knows how to do it. You can be a Linux user for life and have never compiled a kernel in your entire life and be perfectly happy with that ignorance. Most of us are like that, I would argue. But the people who do go through the effort of learning how to do it have gone through a task that maybe they should be a little proud of. Maybe not so proud of as they tend to be, but at least a little proud. The issue that I have with them being prideful of their accomplishment isn't that they shouldn't be proud, but they do tend to push custom kernels onto people who don't necessarily need them. And while I'm not saying that those people who tend to bend the peer pressure are innocent by any means, they have free will, they could say no. They still have to do the compiling themselves. They still have to make the decision to compile themselves. So they have their skin in the game as well. But I also will say this that a lot of times people see others compile a custom kernel and think that, well, you know, maybe I should do that too. Now, if you want to do that because you want the experience or you have one of those specific use cases I was talking about earlier, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with doing it, no matter what the reason you're doing it is. But it is something to think about when it comes to peer pressure, right? People do think that, you know, just because other people have done something and they're very proud of it and they think that it's a good thing that they might want to do it too. And that can lead to people who don't know what they're doing, breaking their systems because they didn't know what they were doing. And, you know, that just happens sometimes, right? Because they bit off more than they can chew. And like I said, the responsibility that goes both ways, not just with the people I'm talking about, but with the people who actually compile the kernels as well. But that's just something that you have to kind of think about. So that's it for this video, just a really quick rambly video. Also, just a shout out to Jake and all my other moderators on my Discord server. If you're not part of my Discord server, head on over there. The links in the video description, we have a lot of fun. You can also come in and talk to Jake, which you can ask him then why he uses a custom kernel. Maybe he'll try to get you to use one too. So that is it for this video. If you have any thoughts on custom kernel usage, you can leave those in the comment section below. If you haven't already, leave a thumbs up on this video. It would really, really help the channel. You can follow me on MasterDowner Odyssey. Those links will be in the video description. You can support me on Patreon at patreon.com. I'm also on Kofi and the YouTube subscribe button or the YouTube join button down there also works. So if you want to support me monetarily, those are the best ways to do so. There's also a PayPal link down there. You can also head on over to the merch shop, which is at shop.linuscast.org. There you'll find desk mats and hats and hoodies and t-shirts and all sorts of stuff. The proceeds from the shop go directly to help the channel and mean that there's more Linux content for you guys. So shop.linuscast.org and yes, I'm the new Linus, I guess. I don't know. I don't drop it in at random times in the video. It's in the same spot every time. So it's I'm not that bad is what I'm trying to say. Anyway, shop.linuscast.org thanks to everybody who supports me on Patreon and YouTube. You guys are all absolutely amazing without you. The challenges are not made even near where it is right now. So thank you so very, very much for your support. I truly do appreciate it. Also, I did a banger job on the end screen credits. I'm very proud of that. It took me a long time to actually sit down and do it, but I did it and this is the second video in a row where I'm tooting my own horn for it, but I can't help it. It looks so nice. Thanks, everybody, for your support. I truly do appreciate it. Thanks everybody for watching. I'll see you next time.