Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 04:54:40 -0500 From: "Donald J . Maddox" <dmaddox@sc.rr.com> To: Dan Langille <dan@langille.org> Cc: "Donald J . Maddox" <dmaddox@sc.rr.com>, freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG, freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: too much confusion over kernel building Message-ID: <20010118045440.A42092@cae88-102-101.sc.rr.com> In-Reply-To: <200101180927.WAA14914@ducky.nz.freebsd.org>; from dan@langille.org on Thu, Jan 18, 2001 at 10:27:04PM %2B1300 References: <20010118091839.7C8D13E02@bazooka.unixfreak.org>; <20010118042437.A41992@cae88-102-101.sc.rr.com> <200101180927.WAA14914@ducky.nz.freebsd.org>
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On Thu, Jan 18, 2001 at 10:27:04PM +1300, Dan Langille wrote:
> On 18 Jan 2001, at 4:24, Donald J . Maddox wrote:
>
> > I agree. Frankly, there is no reason I can think of where the use of
> > buildkernel/installkernel would be in any meaningful way superior to
> > the old method *except* in the case of a toolchain upgrade that requires
> > new tools to build the new source.
>
> There is the added advantage that the "new" method involves fewer
> steps. And That Is A Good Thing (tm), especially for people new to
> FreeBSD. If they get get a kernel to compile and work the first time,
> without problems, it gives them a *big* boost. The few steps, the hard
> to mess up.
For people new to FreeBSD, it's really not as simple as:
# make buildkernel KERNEL=MYKERNEL
# make installkernel KERNEL=MYKERNEL
At this point, the newbie has already had to:
# cd /usr/src/sys/<arch>/conf
# cp GENERIC MYKERNEL
# vi MYKERNEL
... Agonizes over incomprehensible options/devices ...
All of this is required regardless of whether you use 'the old
method' or 'the new method'.
At this point, the newbie can:
a) # config MYKERNEL
# cd ../../compile/MYKERNEL
# make depend
# make
# make install
b) # cd /usr/src
# make buildkernel KERNEL=MYKERNEL
# make installkernel KERNEL=MYKERNEL
Sure, b) has 2 less steps, but frankly, I think the difference is
lost in the noise. Actually creating a working custom config seems
to be the showstopper for most folks. In any case, talking about 2
different ways of doing this is *sure* to confuse lots of people :)
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