Re: Some notes on Debian experiences
Alan Eugene Davis writes: I wanted to compile a new kernel. Remembering that Debian has a screwy header file setup, ^ You forgot a , IMO, here. I had to relink as described in the /usr/src/linux/README. For the umpteenth time. You don't need these links to compile the kernel. I haven't had those links on any of my systems in over a year and it hasn't stopped me from compiling hundreds of kernels. BTW, libc6 will use a different approach. I need to double check, but I think it sucks all of the information it needs from the kernel headers at build time. You won't need any kernel headers in /usr/include, symlinked or otherwise, to compile programs with it. David -- David EngelOptical Data Systems, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1001 E. Arapaho Road (972) 234-6400 Richardson, TX 75081 -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Some notes on Debian experiences
On Thu, 12 Dec 1996, David Engel wrote: I had to relink as described in the /usr/src/linux/README. For the umpteenth time. You don't need these links to compile the kernel. I haven't had those links on any of my systems in over a year and it hasn't stopped me from compiling hundreds of kernels. Hear, hear! Since at least 1.3.something, the kernel makefile explicitly points gcc to the kernel include files. So unless you compile antique kernels for fun, you do *not* need the said links. As further proof, here are the relevant extracts from my toplevel 2.0.27 kernel makefile: ---snip--- TOPDIR := $(shell if [ $$PWD != ]; then echo $$PWD; else pwd; fi) HPATH = $(TOPDIR)/include FINDHPATH = $(HPATH)/asm $(HPATH)/linux $(HPATH)/scsi $(HPATH)/net HOSTCC =gcc -I$(HPATH) HOSTCFLAGS =-O2 -fomit-frame-pointer CROSS_COMPILE = AS =$(CROSS_COMPILE)as LD =$(CROSS_COMPILE)ld CC =$(CROSS_COMPILE)gcc -D__KERNEL__ -I$(HPATH) CPP =$(CC) -E ---snip--- Notice how -I$(TOPDIR)/include (i.e. -I$(HPATH)) is included on *every* gcc command. QED. Read question 1 of /usr/doc/libc5/FAQ.gz if you want to know why Debian doesn't use symlinks. Christian PS Could someone who is on linux-kernel volunteer to at least ask the kernel people to update the kernel's README? It still says make sure your /usr/include/asm, /usr/include/linux, and /usr/include/scsi directories are just symlinks to the kernel sources even though people don't need to do that anymore to compile the kernel... -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Some notes on Debian experiences
Alan == Alan Eugene Davis [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Alan During the process of upgrading, I inadvertently deleted the Alan entire /usr/info directory. My own fault, as I freely and Alan readily accept. However, I was not ready for what happened Alan next: when I upgraded gcc and cpp (as I found I must when I Alan installed gcc and it would not configure), neither package would Alan configure, with a dire error message. But the only problem was Alan that the postinstall script could not find /usr/info/dir. I Alan thought it nice to be rid of the directory for the time, as I Alan needed the space to compile the kernel, but the Debian package Alan tools would not configure these packages unless they were able Alan to run install-info. I saw no way around this, no force option. Alan Something of a ridiculous reason not to be able to configure an Alan important package, since I delete the gcc and cpp info files Alan anyway. I don't think deleting a part of the debian file system that's managed by dpkg is a good way to gain some space, unless you understand what you are deleting. By doing so, you break the integrity of your debian system and cannot expect dpkg or package maintenance scripts to function without problems. Alan I still am not sure where the dir file comes from. Dpkg doesn't Alan know about any /usr/info/dir file. I stumbled across Alan cleanup-info, and ran it, but the resulting dir file is not Alan adequate to run info or emacs info. I get the message that no Alan top node can be found. /usr/info/dir is one of those files that's created by the postinst script of a package. The package concern is base-files. -- Billy C.-M. Chow Department of Systems Engineering The Chinese University of Hong Kong email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Some notes on Debian experiences
I have been running a debian system for over a year, and have come to depend upon it. The newer (1.2?) version is working fine, and upgrades are in general _much_ less painful than upgrading to elf from a.out. But there are still rough spots, notwithstanding the significant debt I owe to the developers for enabling the system upon which I have come to rely extremely heavily for all work. The upgrade to the newer libc5 packages was anticipated with some trepidation. In general it went ok, but once again, all the trouble that has been gone to to set up the package format and tools still has not make it any easier to upgrade by FTP: several packages required other packages to be upgraded, and as usual, it was trial and error. I think it is in hand, however. As before, I have had to deal privately with debian's header file system, as it does not conform to what the linux kernel is doing. I deleted the aout libraries. So far so good. I searched the bin directories for aout executables, and found none that I could not do without. So looks ok. But I still don't know if it is safe to delete the X11R6 aout libraries. I could use the space. I hope to upgrade to X11 3.2 soon, but fear and trepidation will held me back awhile. I wanted to compile a new kernel. Remembering that Debian has a screwy header file setup, I had to relink as described in the /usr/src/linux/README. I think that went ok. I was able to compile 2.1.14. I had to upgrade to a number of packages in bo. And I compiled PCMCIA myself. During the process of upgrading, I inadvertently deleted the entire /usr/info directory. My own fault, as I freely and readily accept. However, I was not ready for what happened next: when I upgraded gcc and cpp (as I found I must when I installed gcc and it would not configure), neither package would configure, with a dire error message. But the only problem was that the postinstall script could not find /usr/info/dir. I thought it nice to be rid of the directory for the time, as I needed the space to compile the kernel, but the Debian package tools would not configure these packages unless they were able to run install-info. I saw no way around this, no force option. Something of a ridiculous reason not to be able to configure an important package, since I delete the gcc and cpp info files anyway. I still am not sure where the dir file comes from. Dpkg doesn't know about any /usr/info/dir file. I stumbled across cleanup-info, and ran it, but the resulting dir file is not adequate to run info or emacs info. I get the message that no top node can be found. The system is working ok. Thanks to all developers. Alan Davis -- Alan Eugene DavisMarianas High School 15o 8.8'N GMT+10 [EMAIL PROTECTED]AAA 196 Box 10,001145o 42.5'E Saipan, MP 96950 Northern Mariana Islands An inviscid theory of flow renders the screw useless, but the need for one nonexistent.-- Lord Raleigh -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
