On 7/17/07, Albert Hopkins <marduk@gentoo.org> wrote:
>
> On Tue, 2007-07-17 at 14:24 -0500, Billy Wayne McCann wrote:
> > My purpose for pasting this into this discussion is three-fold: to
> > show
> > why I said what I did, to hopefully dispel the notion that I merely
> > made
> > this all up, and to discuss the relevance of the pasted text itself.
> >
> > I apologize for being off-topic and hope that Mick finds himself a
> > working kernel config soon.  :)
>
> I hope he does as well.
>
> Completely on a tangent from the OP, but I would like to argue *for* the
> use of oldconfig when upgrading kernels. I read the relevant part of the
> document and I'm not going to contest it, it does not seem to indicate
> that "oldconfig" when upgrading kernels doesn't work, but that
> "oldconfig" might somehow confuse the user into not selecting a kernel
> option that they need.  OTOH if said person is using an "old config"
> that worked then most, if not all, of the "needed" options are already
> selected.  But what are the alternatives?  The document does not cite
> any. I can think of four choices:
>
>      1. "make menuconfig" and create a new .config from scratch.  From
>         my own personal experience I know I'm *much* more likely to
>         forget a needed kernel option starting from scratch than from an
>         old config.
>      2. Copy old .config and "make".  In this case you miss any new
>         kernel options.
>      3. copy old .config and "make menuconfig".  In this case you're
>         much more likely to miss the *new* kernel options because they
>         don't stand out from the old ones.
>      4. Copy old .config and "make oldconfig".  Here you get prompted
>         for any new kernel options, plus you keep all your old ones when
>         feasible.
>
> Or, if you're lucky enough to be using Gentoo, you could run genkernel.
> However browsing the genkernel sources it seems to do 2, 3 or 4
> depending on what options it is given. 2 seems relevant only if you want
> to upgrade your kernel but not take advantage of any new features.  3 is
> prone to overlooking the aforementioned features.  So that leaves 1
> which is ridiculous and 4 which just about every other document found on
> the net about upgrading kernels recommends, including the Greg
> Kroah-Hartman's _Linux Kernel in a Nutshell_ (Greg being both a Kernel
> and Gentoo developer).
>
> I think that in general, and when used correctly, oldconfig is in fact a
> very useful tool when performing kernel upgrades, but of course YMMV.
>
>
> --
> Albert W. Hopkins
>
> --
> gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
>
>
Albert,

Thanks for taking the time to put these thoughts together.  I think I
understand better now.  Much appreciated.


Billy Wayne

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