Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 13:19:10 -0700 From: Joe Rhett <jrhett@meer.net> To: doc@freebsd.org Subject: comments for improvement of handbook/kernelconfig-config.html Message-ID: <798f8ecc1cd0d654feb59c63d84519e0@meer.net>
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http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/kernelconfig-=20= config.html I'd like to offer some quick comments, after spending several hours =20 reading and googling only to verify the fairly obvious but that wasn't =20= spelled out. My comments to improve this page include 1. Start the beginning. What does the kernel configuration file do? =20= If the following statement is true, let's put this (or something =20 similar) somewhere near the top: "The kernel configuratioon file defines the modules which will = be =20 built statically into the kernel. You would change this file to remove =20= modules from your kernel, or to change some kernel options. It does not =20= limit or prevent you from adding dynamically loadable modules later. =20= If you want to include a loadable module in your kernel, you don't need =20= to rebuild your kernel configuration." This appears to be true, and running several kernel builds appears to =20= prove it, but just determining whether or not it was true was downright =20= difficult. 2. Move the comment about NOTES/LINT to the bottom. It's unlikely that =20= your average kernel builder would care about most of this stuff, and =20 they should read to the bottom anyway. It's kindof "if we didn't talk =20= about it here..." kind of comment anyway. It certainly confuses the =20 subject when you first hit this page. 3. Identify which modules are required for a kernel to boot. Or have =20= some discussion of this. And in general -- what does it mean when I =20 remove a module? Can I remove plip from the kernel but have it =20 installed as a .ko so that I can load it dynamically later on if by =20 some reason I decide to use it? What's the limitations of this =20 approach? And lastly, stop with the intertwined 4.x and 5.x (and soon 6.x) =20 comments. If there are different answers, put them in separate blocks. =20= Maybe color them separately. It's incredibly frustrating to go =20 through a paragraph and then hit an else near the end that makes you =20 wonder just how many statements before the else are being negated. > device gif # IPv6 and IPv4 tunneling > > This implements IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling, IPv4 over IPv6 tunneling, =20= > IPv4 over IPv4 tunneling, and IPv6 over IPv6 tunneling. Beginning with = =20 > FreeBSD 4.4 the gif device is =93auto-cloning=94, and you should use = the =20 > line pseudo-device gif. Earlier versions of FreeBSD 4.X require a =20 > number, for example pseudo-device gif 4. Huh? What? Did I read this right? Instead, why not: > FreeBSD 5/6: > device gif # IPv6 and IPv4 tunneling > > FreeBSD 4.4 and above: > pseudo-device gif # IPv6 and IPv4 tunneling > > FreeBSD 4.3 and earlier: > pseudo-device gif 4 # the number of IPv6 and IPv4 tunneling = =20 > interfaces > > This implements IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling, IPv4 over IPv6 tunneling, =20= > IPv4 over IPv4 tunneling, and IPv6 over IPv6 tunneling. Beginning with = =20 > FreeBSD 4.4 the gif device is =93auto-cloning=94. Earlier versions of =20= > FreeBSD 4.X require a number, for example pseudo-device gif 4. --=20 Joe Rhett senior geek svcolo : meer.net=
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