Re: script for compiling the kernel

Steffen Evers (tron@cs.tu-berlin.de)
Sun, 04 Jul 1999 16:13:42 +0200


Marc Mutz wrote:
> [...]
> - make bzImage the default for 2.2.x and later, since it does run most
> of the time and zImage shuold be considered the unusual case.
As discussed there are arguments for zImage and bzImage as default. I
tend to leave zImage the default because:
- You can see something is wrong at compiling time not at boot time.
- It is very easy to determine what is wrong.
- You are told what is wrong.
So I consider this as the safe choice.
At the moment if 'make zImage' fails you get a line like this:
If you get the message 'kernel to big' use 'bzImage' (option -b)
That should stop newcomers from bothering kernel people with this
question, I hope.
Maybe I get it working to autodetect this problem and do this
automatically.

> - leave out 'make clean' for later 2.2.x and 2.3.x kernels, since I
> think that has been made obsolete (my kernel compiles just fine w/o it
> and make xconfig does not say anything about it any more)-
I want to leave this in as long as I have a statement that there is NO
case where it is needed. Generally a 'make clean' should not be
necessary except for the case that something went wrong, I think. But I
want to be on the safe side and at least it doesn't hurt except for the
longer compiling time. But maybe I should make this an option for people
who need a quick compiling.

> - prompt for dev kernels, e.g. like this:
>
> CAUTION: You are trying to build a DEVELOPMENT kernel. This means that
> there is no guanrantee that it will even compile correctly.
> Do you know exactly, what you are doing?
> Have you checked www.kernelnotes.org for any known broken
> feature that can chew your system up and laugh at you?
> anwer 'yes' or 'NO':
>
> Maybe this prevents some people from thinking 'Well, three's more'n two,
> so let's check out...'
> [...]
Yes, that's a good idea. I'll do that.

Thanks for your feedback.

Bye, Steffen

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