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Re: Bug#284116: kernel-image-* should include vmlinux



On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 17:37:41 +0100, Juan Cespedes <cespedes@debian.org> said: 

> On Tue, Dec 14, 2004 at 08:03:15AM -0800, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
>> > Being able to inspect the kernel variables and the kernel content
>> > with:
>> >> gdb /boot/vmlinux /proc/kcore
>> 
>> I disagree. People who want the bare vmlinux can use the
>> configuration option install_vmlinux to get the debugging symbols
>> they need

> I would like to be able to have a copy of the vmlinux used to
> generate the kernel in kernel-image-* packages.  Maybe it will
> overbloat the package, but we could add it to anothe package or at
> least leave it at some URL... I don't want to debug the kernel just
> for fun, but to be able to know what is going on when some weird
> things happen.

	How is this any different from asking for debugging
 information in all the packages all the time? There is a mechanism
 for a user to get the debug symbols on a recompile, which is not very
 dofferent from any other binary package in Debian.

> I could recompile my own kernel to create my vmlinux, but unless I
> use exactly the same enviroment (gcc, etc), the resulting vmlinux
> will not match the kernels shipped with Debian, and that's what I
> need.

	The same argument holds for any other binary package as well,
 I do not see why kernel images should be treated differently.

> I don't know what is the best solution for this, but I would really
> like to have access to the vmlinux used to generate our kernels...

	Right. However, many users do not want to further bloat kernel
 packages, so we have conflicting desires.

>> Just like other packages, it is easy enough to recreate the kernel
>> image package with debugging symbols built in, and that should be
>> all that is required.

> But unlike other packages, it is not easy to compile other kernel
> and just run it... in some situations, stopping a machine to try a
> new kernel is not acceptable.

	There are production machines that are restrictred, yes. I
 don't allow gcc and gdb on my server boxes, which makes debugging
 hard. However, this is a local policy decision, and not a global
 invariant; this should not be used to impose one set of preferences
 on everyone else.

	manoj
-- 
Be careful!  UGLY strikes 9 out of 10!
Manoj Srivastava   <srivasta@debian.org>  <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
1024D/BF24424C print 4966 F272 D093 B493 410B  924B 21BA DABB BF24 424C



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