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sm-discuss - Re: [SM-Discuss] Linux Spell Custom Kernel Issues

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  • From: David Brown <dmlb2000 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Robert Figura <rfigura AT aubergine.zwischengesicht.de>
  • Cc: sm-discuss AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [SM-Discuss] Linux Spell Custom Kernel Issues
  • Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2005 11:34:28 -0700


After i had thought the options through i came to a conclusion and i'd like
to suggest to do it the following way:

> So what I'm seeing is that you want a way to be able to install a kernel
> without having to go through the selection of kernels and patches.

I like the newktree and oldktree concepts. The latter lacks a way to untar
(and maybe patch) the kernel by hand, since it only accepts existing kernel
trees it has created by itself. That should be changed and we'd have the
longed for debian functionality. (all /usr/src/linux-* should be regarded
as possible oldktree)

This can't happen, and the reason is because I save a file in the source tree that tells me what that source tree has been patched with so that I can generate a version for the spell, what patches to update next time. Furthermore there isn't any way for me to tell if a directory that was named /usr/src/linux-* is actually a linux kernel source that has been patched successfully or is even a kernel source in general.

Newktree on the other hand should do summon, unpacking and - patching as far
as the spell knows. I like to have suggested versions which have been
tested by the sorcery team.

s#sorcery team#grimoire team# ???
Also I check to make sure every patch I add to the linux spell actually patches and compiles with my config file. Also it would be kinda hard to have 'suggested' patches or versions because each patch has a slightly different focus on development.  Some patches are good for servers and other patches are good for desktops and yet others are provided as a way for users to see the development of the kernel, etc.

There would have to be some sort of 'this is what I want to do' => 'kernel you should use' mapping but I think that might be better as a wiki page instead of in the spell. 

But i'd also like to be able to provide a
version number already available but untested by the gurus. This is what
i'd understand under CUSTOM.

Okay problems with this are what CUSTOM implies when trying to get the sources...
if CUSTOM implies no source information generation or auto update information generation ; then
    that's fine by me and it can be done that way. Whether it should be done or not is a different question.
else
    you're asking me to predict the future to download a patch that might have moved changed dependancies or even odder things (like the ac sources are 2.6.11-ac7 yet uname -r on the installed kernel is 2.6.11ac7 and that only started with the 2.6.11-ac4 iirc)

Sure, i might give a non-existing kernel version and get an error.

of course but how confusing would this be for a beginner linux user who doesn't know anything about the linux kernel :\

> I think in an abstract way saying "use /usr/src/linux as my kernel and
> go!!" would be a good idea but I'm wondering if this should even be a
> part of the linux spell. (I'm concerned about bloat features that could
> be better implemented solutions elsewhere)

The advantage of the linux spell is more than just summon and compile. It
may trigger kernel dependencies and does install tracking which is nice.

Yes I agree entirely but what I'm afraid of is that we'll have this monster of a spell that no one but me will be able to know exactly what everything is doing in the spell (kinda is that way now but I tried to get documentation describing the spell up publicly). 

(sounds a bit like sorcery)

Also dependancies would be easy to fix with adding and advanced linux spell just trigger on both and make both the linux and linux-advanced spells conflict...

- David Brown




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