On 14/12/01 Ben Carrell did speaketh:

> If you look at the 2.4.17-pre6 changelog you will see:
> 
> - Create __devexit_p() function and use that on 
>  drivers which need it to make it possible to 
>  use newer binutils				(Keith Owens) 
> 
> It comes from using the latest binutils, let me guess - you run debian 
> sid? :)  If you wish to compile 2.4.16, you need to downgrade binutils 
> ...or try a pre-patch starting with 2.4.17-pre6

    Someone on the Debian list mentioned that enabling CONFIG_HOTPLUG work fix
the problem too, and it did. So, the kernel is a little bigger than desired,
but no biggy. 

    Mike