#kernel build system and can use its lanauge ifneq($(KERNELRELEASE),) obj-m:=helloworld.o else KDIR:= /lib/modules/2.6.33.3-85.fc13.i686/build all: make -C $(KDIR) M=
You're missing the second part of your conditional ifneq($(KERNELRELEASE),) needs to have something after the comma, like "2.6.17" (for example).