bash-2.03$ export MAKE="make -j9" bash-2.03$ /usr/bin/time make -j9 vmlinux ... 378.88user 25.09system 0:20.43elapsed 1976%CPU (0avgtext+0avgdata 0maxresident)k0inputs+0outputs (245850major+266580minor)pagefaults 0swaps Yep thats 20.43 seconds to compile a functional 2.4 SparcLinux kernel.