"... then as long as you can follow a recipe you can probably build a reasonably good kernel tailored for your system."

Generally, when I'm following recipes, this isn't the way I do it:

"Eggs. Do I need eggs? No. Powdered products: flour. Do I need flour? Yes. Sugar. Do I need sugar? Heck yes. Sodium Benzoate? What the fizzle?"

*Googles*

"Hmmm, that doesn't help much... Fine, module."