If you're ever needed to compile the Linux Kernel on a Raspberry Pi, you've probably noticed that it takes a long time. We sure have.
If you have a desktop computer or a laptop with decent hardware specs, it seems like there ought to be an easy way to use all that processing power to generate a new kernel for your Pi, but it can be tricky to figure out the specifics. Enter the Adafruit Pi Kernel-o-Matic, which uses Vagrant to run a virtual machine pre-configured for compiling kernels and produces a package suitable for installation on a Raspbian machine.
Vagrant is for "creating and configuring virtual development environments". What does that mean? Well, really, it's a simple way to set up a virtual machine (VM) running an operating system of your choice. It uses VirtualBox to run VMs, and works on OS X, Windows, and Linux.
Getting a new kernel can be (almost!) as simple as:
cd Adafruit-Pi-Kernel-o-Matic vagrant up vagrant ssh sudo ./build.sh
Interested? You'll just need to install a bit of software. Read on for specifics.
