Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 10:21:19 -0700 From: "Duke Normandin" <01031149@3web.net> To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: too much confusion over kernel building Message-ID: <20010118173036.AC9B137B6AF@hub.freebsd.org>
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On 18 Jan 01 at 0:33, John Baldwin wrote:
>
>On 18-Jan-01 Neil Blakey-Milner wrote:
>> On Thu 2001-01-18 (02:23), Donald J . Maddox wrote:
>>> On Wed, Jan 17, 2001 at 11:15:28PM -0800, Dima Dorfman wrote:
>>> > > Over the past few weeks and months, I've seen far too many people
>>> > > using "make buildkernel KERNEL=MYKERNEL" when they should have
>>> > > used "config MYKERNEL".
>>> >
>>> > I'm not quite sure we should be advocating using the older, `config
>>> > MYKERN` method. It doesn't really have any advantages over the newer
>>> > one, and suggesting different ones for different purposes will only
>>> > confuse the novices, IMO. Plus, `make buildkernel KERNEL=MYKERNEL` is
>>> > quite a bit simpler than,
>>> >
>>> > config MYKERNEL && cd ../../compile/MYKERNEL && make depend && make
>>> >
>>> > So, my question is, why use the older one? I can understand why
>>> > people still use it because they've been doing it that way for the
>>> > last X years, but that's no reason to teach it to new people.
>>>
>>> It seems to me that most of the confused are usually just trying to
>>> recompile a custom kernel to add, for example, sound support. It's
>>> ridiculous to make these people do a full world build just to be able
>>> to hear sound from their soundcard. Obviously, if you have updated
>>> your source tree from, it's very dangerous NOT to do the buildworld -
>>> buildkernel - installkernel - installworld dance. But it's silly to
>>> advocate that someone who just installed 4.2, and simply wants to hear
>>> an MP3 must do a full buildworld... Just my $0.02.
>>
>> Who exactly is advocating a full buildworld? The "new" style should not
>> require a full buildworld. If it doesn't work, it's a bug.
>
>buildkernel assumes a worst case environment by default. The problem is that
>there isn't the One True Way(tm) to build a kernel that works for all cases.
>buildkernel is needed when updating the system, but if you are just changing
>the kernel config and building a new kernel w/o changing your source tree, you
>should be using the old method. I don't actually use buildkernel as it is only
>needed in very rare cases such as when crossing over a binutils upgrade
>_anyway_.
I think that my original reply got nuked for inadvertant (of course)
"excessive cross- posting" - sorry if this is a duplicate.
I know jack-shit about this stuff, because I'm too chicken-shit to screw
up my system. *However* why couldn't a script be written to *ask* some
important questions and based on the answer, execute a proper command? E.G.
Are you updating your system?
if "yes" --> buildkernel
else
Are you simply changing your existing kernel config?
if "yes" --> old method
else
are you blah
are you blah
Any chance of this working?
-duke
Calgary,Alberta, Canada
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