Re: [gentoo-dev] Patches and the 2.4->2.6 move

[Brandon Hale <tseng@gentoo.org>]

> I have a patch that fixes SSE problems on 2.4 kernels. However, on 2.6
> kernels it breaks OpenGL (applications segfault).
>
> Currently I'm applying this patch if /usr/src/linux is linked to a 2.4
> kernel at compile-time.
>
> This means that if a user emerges xfree when linked to a 2.4 kernel,
> that user will need to remerge xfree after moving to 2.6 kernels. This
> takes about 40 minutes on a ~2GHz x86. However, if this patch is not
> applied, the bug will continue to exist for all Gentoo users on 2.4
> kernels.

It appears that the larger part of our user base is running a 2.4 series kernel,
and will be for quite some time. Considering this, and our position that
testing kernels are not offically supported, I think we should give priority to
fixing bugs that affect the most users.

> My request to you is:
> 1) Is this acceptable?

I find this acceptable under the condition that it is properly documented in
both postinst and ChangeLog.

> 2) If not, what is a better solution? Dropping the patch entirely? Note
> that I don't know Mesa/programming well enough to write a patch
> compatible for both 2.4 and 2.6 kernels.

The one caveat I can think of is GRP. Will we distribute a package for both
kernels? How does portage choose the right one?

> Thanks,
> Donnie

--tseng

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