Up until the early 2000s I used to compile my own kernel, carefully selecting only the options that I needed.
Then I realised that I wasn’t saving memory, because almost everything was a module anyway.
Is there any actual benefit to using a custom kernel on consumer hardware that’s supported by the stock kernels?
Primarily if you want some functionality that isn’t mainlined, or isn’t released as stable yet.
Like hibernate in lockdown mode, or out of tree drivers, or maybe something new coming up in the emulation support world like NTSync, though I think that last example was mainlined by now.
Drivers are usually loaded as modules, aren’t they?
Actual benefit? I’d say code not compiled in is code that cannot be abused.
There are also more obscure benefits - like getting more familiar with your system.
I had to compile with a custom patch when Linux dropped support for my 2015 laptop gpu
