Patching the Kernel the Debian Way

["Doug MacFarlane" <madmac@covad.net>]

Team:

I need to apply the freeswan patch to the kernel, and, as always, I hope
to do this "The Debian Way".  I've been reading the make-kpkg man page, and
there appears to be 3 different ways to do this.

1.  The patch_the_kernel configuration option, which I assume is somewhere
in the .config file that I just haven't found yet.

2.  The PATCH_THE_KERNEL environment variable.  Where is this set?  I don't
seem to have one in my, or root's environment.  Should I just add it to my,
and/or root's, .bashrc or .bash_profile?  If so, which one?

3.  The added_patches option to make-kpkg

It seems that setting the PATCH_THE_KERNEL environment variable 
to AUTO makes the most sense -
this way, you only add the patches if you specify the added_patches option
to make-kpkg, giving you control.  

In the above scenario, am I correct in assuming that setting the 
PATCH_THE_KERNEL environment variable to AUTO and specifying
the added_patches option to make-kpkg without listing specific patches will
apply ALL the patches in /usr/src/kernel-patches?  So, if you go this way,
you need to be sure that you have just the patches you want, or that you
explicitly list the subset you want each time you build a kernel?

Thanks

madmac

-- 
Doug MacFarlane
madmac@covad.net