From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org ([208.92.234.80] helo=lists.gentoo.org) by finch.gentoo.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1RZQuz-0003fH-IQ for garchives@archives.gentoo.org; Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:41:01 +0000 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id B956B21C129; Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:40:51 +0000 (UTC) Received: from svr-us4.tirtonadi.com (svr-us4.tirtonadi.com [69.65.43.212]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E74CB21C080 for ; Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:39:45 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-ww0-f53.google.com ([74.125.82.53]) by svr-us4.tirtonadi.com with esmtpsa (TLSv1:RC4-MD5:128) (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1RZQtn-004Kj5-TJ for gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org; Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:39:48 +0700 Received: by wgbds1 with SMTP id ds1so7531740wgb.10 for ; Sat, 10 Dec 2011 09:39:40 -0800 (PST) Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.227.60.14 with SMTP id n14mr9951043wbh.5.1323538780617; Sat, 10 Dec 2011 09:39:40 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.223.103.70 with HTTP; Sat, 10 Dec 2011 09:39:40 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.223.103.70 with HTTP; Sat, 10 Dec 2011 09:39:40 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: References: <201112082009.36698.michaelkintzios@gmail.com> <20111208221108.GF13528@eisen.lan> Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:39:40 +0700 Message-ID: Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Re: can one tell me: gentoo vs opensuse From: Pandu Poluan To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=0015174ff35edd7bca04b3c062ba X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - svr-us4.tirtonadi.com X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - lists.gentoo.org X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [47 12] / [47 12] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - poluan.info X-Archives-Salt: e8d8d782-4f41-472d-9a75-81aa56576c68 X-Archives-Hash: ae5cdad6b85586d79324b17e167f873f --0015174ff35edd7bca04b3c062ba Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Dec 11, 2011 12:02 AM, "Grant Edwards" wrote= : > > On 2011-12-10, Pandu Poluan wrote: > > > And even you can't guarantee that the kernels are the same. Many distro= s > > introduce their own distro-specific patches to the vanilla kernel. > > RedHat is particularly bad about this. I maintain a couple Linux > drivers that have to work with a wide range of kernel versions. There > are lot's of #ifdef's that depend on not only the kernel and some of > them also have to check whether it's a _RedHat_ kernel or not, since > RedHat is fond of shipping a kernel with version X.Y.Z that isn't even > close to compatible with the driver API for vanilla kernel X.Y.Z. > > > With Gentoo, it's even more complicated, as most experienced > > Gentooroids will configure and compile their own kernels. > > I've never had to add special code to a driver to handle the Gentoo > version of a kernel. > Ah, I see that I might have misconstrued myself. My bad. Regarding drivers: usually they're no big deal, since the 'infrastructure' portions of the kernel (e.g., SCSI disk support) are most likely have been enabled. For most applications, usually they don't really care what's in the kernel since they operate at a quite high-level. Problems might arise though if you're doing exotic things. For example: If I built the IPset portion as 'built-in' into the kernel, I won't be able to install xtables-addons. This is due to the package wanting to install its own set of IPset modules. Fortunately, such cases are few and far between in the Gentooverse. People doing exotic things are naturally expected to Know What They Are Doing=E2= =84=A2 :-) Rgds, --0015174ff35edd7bca04b3c062ba Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable


On Dec 11, 2011 12:02 AM, "Grant Edwards" <grant.b.edwards@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 2011-12-10, Pandu Poluan <p= andu@poluan.info> wrote:
>
> > And even you can't guarantee that the kernels are the same. M= any distros
> > introduce their own distro-specific patches to the vanilla kernel= .
>
> RedHat is particularly bad about this. =C2=A0I maintain a couple Linux=
> drivers that have to work with a wide range of kernel versions. =C2=A0= There
> are lot's of #ifdef's that depend on not only the kernel and s= ome of
> them also have to check whether it's a _RedHat_ kernel or not, sin= ce
> RedHat is fond of shipping a kernel with version X.Y.Z that isn't = even
> close to compatible with the driver API for vanilla kernel X.Y.Z.
>
> > With Gentoo, it's even more complicated, as most experienced<= br> > > Gentooroids will configure and compile their own kernels.
>
> I've never had to add special code to a driver to handle the Gento= o
> version of a kernel.
>

Ah, I see that I might have misconstrued myself. My bad.

Regarding drivers: usually they're no big deal, since the 'infra= structure' portions of the kernel (e.g., SCSI disk support) are most li= kely have been enabled.

For most applications, usually they don't really care what's in = the kernel since they operate at a quite high-level.

Problems might arise though if you're doing exotic things. For examp= le: If I built the IPset portion as 'built-in' into the kernel, I w= on't be able to install xtables-addons. This is due to the package want= ing to install its own set of IPset modules.

Fortunately, such cases are few and far between in the Gentooverse. Peop= le doing exotic things are naturally expected to Know What They Are Doing= =E2=84=A2 :-)

Rgds,

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