> I mean most Linux users regularly compile binaries directly from the source.
I think not really. It's not that common. Precisely because package management works nicely, you can do an apt-get install or yum install or whatever.
I have compiled Linux kernels and even written device drivers in the past, but in the past 5 years I haven't had a need to compile anything from source.
There was a lot of building from sources in mid-1990's (Linux 0.99 and all that), but ever since Ubuntu came out, there's been just no need.
I'm not missing that X86Config tweaking, either. But perhaps I've grown old; when I find a laptop that doesn't come up with X in RHEL, I just think it's a bad laptop.
I think not really. It's not that common. Precisely because package management works nicely, you can do an apt-get install or yum install or whatever.
I have compiled Linux kernels and even written device drivers in the past, but in the past 5 years I haven't had a need to compile anything from source.