Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 05:50:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Ben Smithurst <ben@FreeBSD.org> To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: docs/19997: [PATCH] Addition of info about debug kernels to the FAQ Message-ID: <200007181250.FAA88127@freefall.freebsd.org>
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The following reply was made to PR docs/19997; it has been noted by GNATS.
From: Ben Smithurst <ben@FreeBSD.org>
To: eogren@earthlink.net
Cc: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: docs/19997: [PATCH] Addition of info about debug kernels to the FAQ
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 13:42:50 +0100
eogren@earthlink.net wrote:
> I seem to remember this being batted around -doc a couple of days ago by
> somebody else (Ben Smithurst maybe?), but I deleted all of that email, and
> I can't see any other entries having to do with debug kernels in the FAQ,
> so...
Ah... I was talking about a similar thing, for the handbook. Perhaps
that's what you were thinking of. Having this in the FAQ could be
useful...
> <qandaentry><question>
> +<para>Why is my kernel so big (over 10MB)?</para></question><answer>
> +
> +<para>Chances are, you compiled your kernel in <emphasis>debug
> +mode</emphasis>. Kernels built in debug mode contain many symbols that
> +are used for debugging, thus greatly increasing the size of the
> +kernel. Note that if you running a FreeBSD 3.0 or later system, there
> +will be little or no performance decrease from running a debug
> +kernel, and it is useful to keep one around in case of a system
> +panic.</para>
> +<para>However, if you are running low on disk space, or you simply
> +don't want to run a debug kernel, make sure that:</para>
> +<itemizedlist>
> + <listitem><para>You do not have a line in your kernel configuration file
> + that reads <emphasis>makeoptions DEBUG=-g</emphasis>,
> + and</para></listitem>
> +
> + <listitem><para>You are not running <command>config</command> with the
> + <option>-g</option> option.</para></listitem>
> +</itemizedlist>
> +
> +<para>Both of the above situations will cause your kernel to be built
> +in debug mode. As long as you make sure you follow the steps above,
> +you can build your kernel normally, and you should notice a fairly
> +large size decrease; most kernels tend to be around 1.5MB to 2MB.</para>
> +</answer></qandaentry>
Two minor points:
1. Generally, two spaces are used after a fullstop in documentation.
I'm not sure how important this is.
2. Indentation. As Nik told me, new questions should be indented
correctly, even though the rest of the FAQ isn't. Indentation rules
are described in the FDP primer. For the FAQ, you need 6 spaces before
the <qandaentry> (check at the top of the FAQ -- this is because of
the number of outer tags, not some specific rule for the FAQ) and
then follow the normal rules. If you don't have 6 spaces before the
</qandaentry> at the end you've gone wrong somewhere.
The actual text looks good though. There's a couple of other things I'm
putting in there soon. ("Why do I have so little free memory" and "Why
have I got -RC instead of -STABLE" gives the general idea.)
--
Ben Smithurst / ben@FreeBSD.org / PGP: 0x99392F7D
FreeBSD Documentation Project /
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