If you have hardware that was not supported by 1.2.12, or not supported well, you probably have good reason to upgrade to 2.0. But even if your hardware is supported perfectly well by Linux 1.2, you may still want to upgrade. Linux 2.0 is fast . Swapping is fast. Under X, windows appear more quickly.
X runs more smoothly.
Performance under heavy load is improved. Whether you choose to upgrade by obtaining all the new pieces from the Internet, or by waiting for your distribution vendor to provide you with a new version, you probably do want to upgrade. Also, in order to use PPP, a new pppd daemon needs to be installed. Instead of make config , choose make menuconfig or make xconfig . Improvements I mentioned improved performance.