Re: cleaning up kernel source
Hi,
>>"David" == David Morris <bweaver@worf.netins.net> writes:
David> OK, I downloaded the source for the 2.0.24 kernel and compiled
David> a custom kernel yesterday. And now I have the tree leftover
David> taking up 30M on my hard drive. And I was wondering what I can
David> clean up to free up the space.
David> I know I can run a make clean to remove the *.o files and other
David> compiling files, but that would still leave quite a bit
David> leftover.
(make-kpkg clean)
David> I am tempted to rm -r the whole tree (which I have done
David> previously), but I see the Documentation that I might want to
David> keep some things handy (like the documentation). So what do I
David> do with all the include files? should I copy them all over to
David> the /usr/include directory? and do I want to leave something
David> hanging around /usr/src/linux?
Well, you really need not bother with the include files, since
libc5-dev should contain header files for most of your needs.
However, if you wish to be very cautious, build a
kernel-headers-2.0.24 package, which will give you all the heades
(under /usr/src/linux), just in case.
Then rm -r all other subdirectories except the ones you want
to keep (like the documentation). BTW, after cleaning up, the source
come to just under 6M.
David> Thanks in advance for your assistance.
You're welcome.
manoj
Canned explanation about kernel header files
____________________________________________
The headers were included in libc5-dev after a rash of very
buggy alpha kernel releases (1.3.7* or something like that) that
proceeded to break compilations, etc. Kernel versions are changed
far more rapidly than libc is, and there are higer chances that
people install a custom kernel than they install custom libc.
Add to that the fact that few programs really need the more
volatile elements of the header files (that is, things that really
change from kernel version to kernel version), [before you reject
this, consider: programs compiled on one kernel version usually work
on other kernels].
So, it makes sense that a set of headers be provided from a
known good kernel version, and that is sufficient for compiling most
programs, (it also makes the compile time environments for programs
on debian machines a well known one, easing the process of dealing
with problem reports), the few programs that really depend on cutting
edge kernel data structures may just use -I/usr/src/linux/include
(provided that kernel-headers or kernel-source exists on the system).
Most programs, even if they include <linux/something.h>, do
not really depend on the version of the kernel, as long as the kernel
versions are not too far off, they will work. And the headers
provided in libc5-dev are just that.
libc5-deb is uploaded frequently enough that it never lags too
far behind the latest released kernel.
There are two different capabilities which are the issue, and
the kernel-packages and libc5-dev address different ones:
a) The kernel packages try tp provide a stable, well behaved kernel
and modules, and may be upgraded whenever there are significant
advances in those directions (bug fixes, more/better module
support, etc). These, however, may not have include files that
are non-broken as far as non-kernel programs are concerned, and
the quality of the development/compilation environment is not the
kernel packages priority (Also, please note that the kernel
packages are tied together, so kernel-source, headers, and image
are produced in sync)
b) Quality of the development/compilation environment is the priority
of libc5-dev package, and it tries to ensure that the headers it
provides would be stable and not break non-kernel programs. This
assertion may fail for alpha kernels, which may otherwise be
perfectly stable, hence the need for a different set of known-good
kernel include files.
--
Caesar had his Brutus--Charles the First, his Cromwell--and George
the Third ("Treason!" cried the Speaker)--may profit by their
example. If this be treason, make the most of it. -- Patrick Henry
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@datasync.com>
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