> Oh I wasn't meaning specifically in the context of NTP, just generally.

So you decided to just answer with a generalization without regard for the particular case of NTP?

Are you frequently building custom hardware when default OS settings do not suit your needs?

Linux has a lot of configuration potential. It is wise to explore and understand various knobs available before you decide to complicate your life and build something very complex that could easily be replaced with a one line shell script.