If you have not enabled the memory file system, do it and mount it as /tmp.

1. Enable/uncomment these lines in your kernel config and rebuild if needed:

	file-system	MFS		# memory file system
	pseudo-device	md	1	# memory disk device (ramdisk)

2. Add this line to your /etc/fstab:

	/dev/wd0b	/tmp	mfs	rw,-s=81920	0 0

The '81920' is how many sectors the ramdisk should be (here, about 40 MB).
Beware, this space is carved out of your swap partition, so make sure you
have plenty of swap space before trying this.

3. Reboot and go.

Operations that use lots of /tmp files (building kernels!) should spend
audibly less time grinding the disk.

Todd Whitesel
toddpw @ best.com