Re: "mode" option in live config
The live-build `--mode` option was for allowing for any variations
necessary for building images for derivative distros, like Ubuntu and
"Progress" (which is/was a distro produced by the original live-build
author Daniel B).
In part this includes adjusting labels and filenames. Furthermore it
impacts mirror URLs; It affects the contents written to apt source list
files; and it also happens to control whether or not a few extra
packages are included during the installer build stage.
There used to also be a chunk of code to do with setting up
authentication keys for a "Progress" distro build, however this was
ripped out some time ago along with other bits of code that implemented
explicit non-debian distro-specific hacks/variations.
It's been a quite a while since I had any time to get work done on
live-build. As far as I recall, and from rough notes in my to-do list,
`--mode` is in a state of needing to be untangled and removed. We don't
want a bunch of distro hacks all over the place. However do we still
want to allow customisation of things like labels/URLs/etc of course,
for instance to meet the needs of the Kali distro use case. This adds a
level of complication blocking just ripping out the remaining `--mode`
artefacts.
It is thus essentially a legacy artifact, albeit one that you must
ensure is set correctly to achieve a working build.
You can search the codebase for `LB_MODE` to find the places where the
value of the option impacts things. Similarly you can search the git
history of the project to see how things have changed over time with
respect to it, for instance to see where/when the "Progress"
authentication key stuff was ripped out and what it looked like.
On Tue, 2021-08-24 at 05:47 +1000, Michael AU wrote:
> Hello everyone.
> I'm assuming no one has any knowledge of this option and where the
> files are that run it then, I know it still works because I have
> tried
> it but I would like to understand it by seeing how and where the
> different options are called and used.
> Cheers.
> Michael.
>
> > In live build and associated packages there is an option in the
> > config
> > file for "mode". It used to have Debian. Progress, and I think
> > Ubuntu.
> > I am trying to find the files that are associated with this option
> > so
> > I can look at how each option differs from the others. Does anyone
> > know which particular files live build "reads" when it comes across
> > the "mode" option?
> > Cheers.
> > Michael.
>
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