Re: Help compiling a kernel for iMac rev B
"Chris" == Chris Doherty <c_doherty@hotpop.com> writes:
Chris> Shyamal Prasad wrote:
>> Is there a reason you need to compile a kernel (other than that
>> you just want to do it)? The precompiled kernels are actually
>> really good.
Chris> Oh, isn't that a can of worms.
Chris> All I really want to do is plug in this MN-510 wireless
Chris> adapter I bought that linux-wlan-ng is supposed to support.
Chris> But to do that I need to compile the driver module for it.
Chris> But that won't work unless I have "properly configured"
Are you using the linux-wlan-ng package?
Chris> kernel source in /usr/source/linux (why the @$^? that is I
Chris> don't know, nor do I know why it won't just *&^%#$ accept
Chris> kernel-headers or kernel-build linked there instead).
Chris> Apparently the only form of "properly configured" source it
Chris> will accept is source that's been used to actually build a
Chris> kernel.
Or are you saying that the instructions in
/usr/share/doc/linux-wlan-ng/README.Debian.gz don't work? You really
should file a bug in that case.
Chris> I picked the iMac up cheap because I figured it would be a
Chris> nice little terminal to try out Debian on before playing
Chris> around with it on the big hardware, but I am completely and
Chris> utterly disenchanted with both Debian and Linux by this
Chris> point (I used to be a senior grade Windows network admin).
I'm sorry to hear that.
Chris> I know Debian/Linux works very well for the most part, but
Chris> the Debian CDs are going in the microwave for recycling as
Chris> coasters if I can't find documentation for commonplace
Chris> tasks like compiling kernel modules (or kernels) that is
Chris> actually correct, complete, and comprehensible.
Building Debian kernels does take a little bit of a learning curve
(particularly compared to some distributions where you just untar and
go). However, since the 2.4.x kernels the packaging has been good
enough that you rarely need to do it. Even the linux-wlan-ng package
does not actually require you to compile it as far as I can tell (I
don't use it).
Finally, this is a purely community driven distribution. If you
believe there are errors in the documentation please do write a bug
report, or better yet a bug report with a suggested patch (which is
easy to do for the plain text files in make-kpkg docs). I'm guilty of
not doing this for kernel documents, but I rarely build them anymore.
Believe me, the best thing about Debian is the community. In my
experience my attempts to make a contribution as a user over the years
have *always* been positively received.
Cheers!
Shyamal
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