Re: Why did I get no response? Was:Understanding the porting process

[Martin <inkubus@interalpha.co.uk>]

> Hello, debian_noob,
> 
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
Someone beat me to it :-)  I was going to recommend this as well.  For what it's worth:

1. If you just want Linux running on your Ultra 5 - get yourself a copy
of Debain/Sparc and install.

2. If you want to compile everything from source - consider Gentoo or
Linux from scratch but neither are very suitable for beginners.

3. If you want to understand porting - it's in theory quite simple

i). Get yourself something that compiles code for the right platform and
somewhere to test it - IE a box running your target OS with the
appropriate compiler.

ii). Compile whatever you want ported

iii). If it breaks - fix it.

iv). test test test test

v). Goto (ii) if it doesn't work perfectly

vi). Now try and persuade the upstream maintainers to patch in your
changes.

If you want to know about packaging - read the man pages and manual of
dpkg - if you want to know about compiling read the gcc manual, etc. -
in short RTM; the information you seek is out there it's just probabily
not in one easy document - maybe you could be the one to right that
document.

Also you didn't indicate your level of expertise / experience - working
as a Debian package porter / developer is for experienced programmers /
developers / systems admins.  You will need good skills in the language
you choose to use and a very good understanding of how things are done
on Debian.

Sweet Dreams,
 - Martin

-- 
Martin
inkubus@interalpha.co.uk
"Seasons change, things come to pass"