On Mon, 05 Mar 2007 15:53:09 -0800 "K. Richard Pixley" <rich.pixley@palmsource.com> wrote: > I'm confused by some of the terminology here. > > As I read the dpkg-cross man page, dpkg-cross isn't building, that > is, it isn't compiling anything. Building doesn't have to mean compiling - packages based on bash scripts are still described as built. Building a package like a Gtk theme or icon set is simply collecting existing binaries into a standard format binary. Debian Policy mandates a few extras but the basic package does not have to be a lot more than a pair of tar.gz files collated using ar. Buildd is slightly different - buildd specifically refers to processes and logs of building architecture-specific packages which usually involves compilation. > It simply takes packages which are > "native" for some architecture and converts them into packages for > "this" architecture which will install those files in locations > suitable for use with cross compilers. Is this correct? Yes. > Assuming so, then are people actually cross compiling debian > packages? Yes. dpkg-cross is only part of the solution. The main component of cross building is a cross toolchain - a recompiled version of gcc that outputs 'alien' ELF binaries. When you build a package, the output messages may mention 'cc' or similar. When cross building, the output messages mention 'arm-linux-gcc' or similar. i.e. you compile the package using a replacement compiler. Building that compiler is done by specifying the target architecture to the gcc source code. This is achieved using 'dpkg-buildpackage -a arm' which causes dpkg to look for a version of gcc compiled for arm compatible output. > And if so, is there a common or definitive way to do that > within this context? $ sudo apt-get install emdebian-tools $ emsetup -s $ emsetup $ man emdebian-tools http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/#emdebian-tools http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/emdebian/man/ -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
Attachment:
pgpui4AkvDyyG.pgp
Description: PGP signature