<s>
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
is	O
one	O
of	O
five	O
similar	O
tools	O
that	O
can	O
configure	B-Device
Linux	B-Application
source	O
,	O
a	O
necessary	O
early	O
step	O
needed	O
to	O
compile	B-Language
the	O
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
,	O
with	O
a	O
menu-driven	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
choose	O
the	O
features	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
(	O
and	O
other	O
options	O
)	O
that	O
will	O
be	O
compiled	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
normally	O
invoked	O
using	O
the	O
command	O
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
;	O
menuconfig	B-Application
is	O
a	O
target	O
in	O
Linux	B-Application
Makefile	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
was	O
not	O
in	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
predecessor	O
tool	O
is	O
a	O
question-and-answer-based	O
utility	O
(	O
make	B-Application
config	B-Device
,	O
make	B-Application
oldconfig	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
third	O
tool	O
for	O
Linux	B-Application
configuration	O
is	O
make	B-Application
xconfig	B-Language
,	O
which	O
requires	O
Qt	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
also	O
make	B-Application
gconfig	O
,	O
which	O
uses	O
GTK+	B-Application
,	O
and	O
make	B-Application
nconfig	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
these	O
tools	O
use	O
the	O
Kconfig	B-Application
language	O
internally	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kconfig	B-Application
is	O
also	O
used	O
in	O
other	O
projects	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Das	B-Language
U-Boot	I-Language
,	O
a	O
bootloader	O
for	O
embedded	O
devices	O
,	O
Buildroot	B-Application
,	O
a	O
tool	O
for	O
generating	O
embedded	O
Linux	B-Application
systems	O
,	O
and	O
BusyBox	B-Application
,	O
a	O
single-executable	O
shell	O
utility	O
toolbox	O
for	O
embedded	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
being	O
a	O
simple	O
design	O
,	O
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
offers	O
considerable	O
advantages	O
to	O
the	O
question-and-answer-based	O
configuration	O
tool	O
make	B-Application
oldconfig	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
notable	O
being	O
a	O
basic	O
search	O
system	O
and	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
load	O
and	O
save	O
files	O
with	O
filenames	O
different	O
from	O
"	O
.config	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
gives	O
the	O
user	O
an	O
ability	O
to	O
navigate	O
forwards	O
or	O
backwards	O
directly	O
between	O
features	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
using	O
make	B-Application
config	B-Device
by	O
pressing	O
the	O
key	O
to	O
navigate	O
linearly	O
to	O
the	O
configuration	O
for	O
a	O
specific	O
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
user	O
is	O
satisfied	O
with	O
a	O
previous	O
.config	O
file	O
,	O
using	O
make	B-Application
oldconfig	O
uses	O
this	O
previous	O
file	O
to	O
answer	O
all	O
questions	O
that	O
it	O
can	O
,	O
only	O
interactively	O
presenting	O
the	O
new	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
is	O
a	O
light	O
load	O
on	O
system	O
resources	O
unlike	O
make	B-Application
xconfig	B-Language
(	O
uses	O
Qt	B-Language
as	O
of	O
version	O
2.6.31.1	O
,	O
formerly	O
Tk	B-Application
)	O
or	O
make	B-Application
gconfig	O
,	O
which	O
utilizes	O
GTK+	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
's	O
possible	O
to	O
ignore	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
features	O
with	O
make	B-Application
config	B-Device
,	O
and	O
doing	O
so	O
makes	O
it	O
more	O
likely	O
that	O
one	O
will	O
configure	B-Device
an	O
incomplete	O
or	O
oversized	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
's	O
recommended	O
to	O
start	O
with	O
the	O
.config	O
file	O
included	O
with	O
Linux	B-Application
distribution	O
,	O
which	O
makes	O
it	O
easier	O
to	O
configure	B-Device
a	O
custom	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Better	O
than	O
editing	O
the	O
.config	O
by	O
hand	O
,	O
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
shows	O
the	O
descriptions	O
of	O
each	O
feature	O
(	O
by	O
pressing	O
the	O
"	O
Help	O
"	O
button	O
while	O
on	O
a	O
menu	O
option	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
adds	O
some	O
(	O
primitive	O
in	O
version	O
2.6.31.1	O
)	O
dependency	O
checking	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
make	B-Application
oldconfig	O
,	O
dependency	O
checking	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
in	O
one	O
step	O
,	O
but	O
requires	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
locate	O
the	O
features	O
that	O
were	O
changed	O
,	O
by	O
hand	O
,	O
to	O
be	O
sure	O
that	O
the	O
needed	O
ones	O
are	O
still	O
enabled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Practically	O
,	O
using	O
both	O
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
and	O
make	B-Application
oldconfig	O
,	O
diff	B-Application
,	O
(	O
also	O
cvs	B-Application
and	O
a	O
decent	O
text	O
editor	O
)	O
provides	O
the	O
most	O
flexibility	O
and	O
most	O
dependability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Configuring	O
Linux	B-Application
is	O
a	O
significant	O
labor	O
,	O
so	O
users	O
are	O
strongly	O
advised	O
to	O
make	B-Application
backups	O
of	O
it	O
(	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
cp	O
/usr/src/linux	O
*	O
/.config	O
~	O
/savemywork.config	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
help	O
information	O
is	O
distributed	O
throughout	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
source	O
tree	O
in	O
the	O
various	O
files	O
called	O
Kconfig	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
use	O
make	B-Application
menuconfig	B-Application
,	O
Linux	B-Application
source	O
is	O
a	O
requirement	O
,	O
a	O
make	B-Application
tool	O
,	O
a	O
C	B-Language
compiler	B-Language
,	O
and	O
the	O
ncurses	B-Language
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
+Main	O
Key	O
strokes	O
Key	O
stroke	O
Meaning	O
Option	O
description	O
and	O
tips/Help	O
Navigate	O
through	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
features	O
and	O
menuconfig	B-Application
commands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Exit	O
menuconfig	B-Application
or	O
cancel	O
the	O
command	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compile	B-Language
and	O
include	O
this	O
feature	O
inside	O
of	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compile	B-Language
this	O
feature	O
as	O
a	O
module	O
,	O
separate	O
from	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Do	O
not	O
compile	B-Language
the	O
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
[	O
]	O
A	O
dependency	O
requires	O
this	O
to	O
be	O
compiled-in	O
(	O
y	O
)	O
,	O
or	O
not	O
compiled	B-Language
(	O
n	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
{	O
}	O
A	O
dependency	O
requires	O
this	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
module	O
(	O
m	O
)	O
or	O
compiled-in	O
(	O
y	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
-	O
-	O
A	O
dependency	O
requires	O
this	O
to	O
be	O
compiled-in	O
(	O
y	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
New	O
)	O
An	O
option	O
not	O
in	O
an	O
older	O
version	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	O
is	O
encouraged	O
to	O
read	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
since	O
there	O
are	O
also	O
many	O
other	O
make	B-Application
targets	O
(	O
beyond	O
modules_install	O
and	O
install	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
will	O
configure	B-Device
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
,	O
but	O
with	O
different	O
features	O
activated	O
,	O
or	O
using	O
a	O
different	O
interactive	B-Application
interface	I-Application
;	O
such	O
as	O
tinyconfig	O
or	O
allyesconfig	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Next	O
build	O
the	O
compressed	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
and	O
its	O
modules	O
,	O
a	O
long	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
make	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Install	O
using	O
your	O
favorite	O
method	O
such	O
as	O
make	B-Application
modules_install	O
,	O
make	B-Application
install	O
.	O
</s>
