Purpose of the kernel package/headers?

[jwoodman]

I am relatively new to linux in general and would really like to know the purpose of the kernel package and kernel headers for the Roboard (I have the RB-100).
Should ubuntu (for example) run on the roboard without them?
If so, what hardware will/will not work without them installed?
Does the kernel version you are running have to match the kernel package version?
Also, is there any "light" OS (like Lubuntu, for example) that people have had really good luck with? I've had "Ubuntu 9.04 desktop" working, but it was very bloated (I really don't need Gimp, Pidgin, etc. And would prefer not to spend the time uninstalling them leaving orphaned dependencies all over my system)

Thanks in advance,
Justin W.

[roboard]

The RoBoard linux kernel header package is for ones that need to programming with the RoBoard linux kernel. And the RoBoard linux kernel package is a kernel package optimized for RoBoard's Vortex86DX CPU.