Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 13:26:16 -0400 From: Anish Mistry <mistry.7@osu.edu> To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: "Next Generation" kernel configuration? Message-ID: <200407211326.24064.mistry.7@osu.edu> In-Reply-To: <20040721170019.GA88303@root.kableu.com> References: <XFMail.20040720193931.conrads@cox.net> <20040721124345.GB99978@silverwraith.com> <20040721170019.GA88303@root.kableu.com>
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=2D----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Wednesday 21 July 2004 01:00 pm, Andrew Konstantinov wrote: > On Wed, Jul 21, 2004 at 05:43:45AM -0700, Avleen Vig wrote: > > On Tue, Jul 20, 2004 at 07:39:31PM -0500, Conrad J. Sabatier wrote: > > > Just musing on an idea here: > > > > > > I've been thinking for a while now about trying to write a tool to ma= ke > > > kernel configuration easier, sort of a "make config" (as in ports) for > > > the kernel, similar to what's available on some of the Linux distros. > > > > I've read over the other posts in this thread, but I cannot say I think > > this is a good idea. In fact, I think it's a very bad idea, but with > > very good intentions. Here's why.. > > > > I'm a strong proponent of user education. The FreeBSD handbook is one of > > the best education tools for someone who wants to use FreeBSD, right > > from beginner to more advanced levels. > > > > A "config tool", while useful for beginners, would quickly result is > > those beginners not learning about building a kernel themselves, copying > > GENERIC to `hostname -s | tr "[:lower:]" "[:upper:]"`, editing it, > > learning what is in LINT, remembering to look through there, etc. > > This process teaches users a lot about how a BSD kernel is configured, > > what options are availible, and where to look for more options. > > > > The end result would be more people building kernels themselves, but not > > knowing what is actually happening, or what more is possible. It would > > mean less educated users, and I don't think that is somewhere any > > organization needs to go (look at what happened to the average Microsoft > > user's IQ level, after people stopped using DOS and started having > > machines do the work for them). > > > > Like I said, I think your intentions are good, but I have concerns about > > the suggested solution. > > I think such a tool would actually influence user education in a positive > way. Here is a sample scenario: > > 1) User starts this "program" to configure the kernel > 2) User sees unknown to him option > 3) User decides to look it up on www.google.com > 4) "That's a nice feature, although I don't really need it" > 5) GOTO 1 > > The only suggestion I have is to make it a third party program and not > build it into the make procedure for the kernel. It would look like > pkg_tree that's located in ports, although with a better ncurses interfac= e. > > Andrew I think a tool with the functionality described in the original post would = be=20 very nice, but it shouldn't be menu driven etc. Something more like a kern= el=20 dependency checker that would take the kernel config file, and check that a= ll=20 the dependencies are correct. ie. for umass you need da, but if you forget= =20 you'll only get a cryptic failing of the kernel build. Also for things lik= e=20 bktr, which you need to have iic and friends. Something along the lines of a command line "make depend-check" before you = do=20 a make kernel would be nice. =2D --=20 Anish Mistry =2D----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQFA/qc/xqA5ziudZT0RAhLQAJ9HvvtFjmvOkP7hCX4nNR4LGbeMmACgr4vi gQGqNJyVysUTFlisDYohF+8=3D =3DgXI8 =2D----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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