Kernel Modules

• In order to reduce the size of the Linux Kernel, it may be split into a 'core', and a large set of Kernel Modules.
• A Kernel Module is a small file that may be loaded into the running Kernel, and unloaded, at will (the next generation of the Linux kernel will not allow unloading modules, unless told otherwise).
• Many functions of the Kernel may either be compiled into the Kernel directly, or compiled as Modules.
• This design makes it faster to load the Kernel (no need to load and initialize un-needed Modules), as well as developing Drivers (if you have a bug, just unload the Module, fix it, recompile and load it again).

Originally written by guy keren