Along with file system mounting and building from sources, compiling the kernel is undoubtedly the subject which causes the most problems for beginners. Compiling a new kernel is not generally necessary, since the kernel installed by Mandrake Linux contains support for a significant number of devices (in fact, more devices than you will ever need or even think of), as well as a set of trusted patches and so on. But...
It may be that you want to do it, for no other reason than to see “what it does”. Apart from making your PC and your coffee machine work a bit harder than usual, not a lot. The reasons why you should want to compile your own kernel range from deactivating an option to rebuilding a brand new experimental kernel. Anyway, the aim of this chapter is to ensure that your coffee machine still works after compilation.
There are other valid reasons for recompiling the kernel. For example, you have read that the kernel you are using has a security bug, which is fixed in a more recent version, or a new kernel includes support for a device you need. Of course, in these cases, you have the choice of waiting for binary upgrades, but updating the kernel sources and recompiling the new kernel yourself makes for a faster solution.