# Linux Kernel Module Cheat

#### 38.20.2. Setup trade-offs

The trade-offs between the different setups are basically a balance between:

- speed ans size: how long and how much disk space do the build and run take?

- visibility: can you GDB step debug everything and read source code?

- modifiability: can you modify the source code and rebuild a modified version?

- portability: does it work on a Windows host? Could it ever?

- accuracy: how accurate does the simulation represent real hardware?

- compatibility: how likely is is that all the components will work well together: emulator, compiler, kernel, standard library, …​

- guest software availability: how wide is your choice of easily installed guest software packages? See also: Section 38.20.4, “Linux distro choice”