What Does a kmod Do?

What Does a kmod Do?

https://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?228557-kmod-nvidia-vs-akmod-nvidia

A ‘kmod’ (kernel driver module) is the pre-compiled, low-level software interface between the kernel and a driver. It gets loaded (into RAM) and merged into the running kernel. Linux kmods are specific to one and only one kernel, and will not work (nor even load) for any other kernel. Advantages: Pre-Compiled - no need to fool around with compiling, compilers, *-devel packages and other associated overhead. Disadvantages: updating and re-booting into a new kernel without updating the kmod(s) will result in loss of functionality (e.g.: 3D video support) at best, or worse (e.g.: X11 crashes/freezes); inherent delays in updating kmods after kernel updates.

But ‘akmods’ is a system (like DKMS) to auto-build (hence: akmod) new kmods for you “on-the-fly”, in response to new/changed running kernel. Advantages: obvious. Disadvantages: HDD space required for compilers and *-devel packages; unforseen/uncorrectable driver problems that cannot be resolved by the automatic tools.

The actual Linux driver(s) itself (2D, and often also 3D; in this case: NVidia video driver) is actually a separate file (nvidia_drv.so).