> 1) Configuration still seems a tiny bit illogical. For example,
> it asks certain things (like CONFIG_ETHERNET) in weird places.
> Also, maybe the (NEW) thing shouldn't appear when .config doesn't
> already exist?
NO!!!! Many of us copy our .config from the previous kernel tree into
arch/<whatever/defconfig of the new kernel tree, as a last step before
running `make mrproper' and compiling the new kernel.
Don't assume that just because there is no .config, there is no old
configuration.
lilo