[TriLUG] question about "make oldconfig"

[rpjday]

  when building a kernel based on red hat's shipped kernel source
RPM, is there any value in running "make oldconfig" if you're working
with the original source?

  as i understand it, "make oldconfig" is for rebuilding a .config
file from a *previous* build when you've got newer kernel source.
this allows you to answer questions about newer features only.

  but i've seen at least one doc about building kernels that
suggests, even when you're using the original kernel source,
that you do:

  # make mrproper
  # cp configs/<whatever>.config .config
  # make oldconfig

if you're using the shipped kernel source and shipped config file
templates, is there any point to that last command?  i tested it and,
not surprisingly, it just zinged through without asking any questions.
does it do anything else that's not so obvious that's worth knowing?

rday