Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 15 Jan 2002 11:17:49 +0100 | From | Giacomo Catenazzi <> | Subject | Autoconfiguration: Original design scenario |
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Hello.
There are a lot of noise about autoconfiguration. And the scenarios of ESR are not my original scenarios, for which I worked autoconfigurator for nearly 1.5 years.
A lot of people already compiles the kernel. (Why? Maybe ESR or other people haw sudied this, but I don't know the answer) proof: using the facts: - there are a lot of kernel.org mirrors. - posting in the user lists
The people will ocmpile the kernel without the distribution's configuration, removing not needed drivers. (I don't have a proof, but the people that use .config from distribution, normally use also the updated kernel source package in the distribution.)
Finding card -> configuration is not easy. You buy a network card (ethernet), which is the correct driver? And the usb photo machine? The sound card? Some info are in configure.help, but you should parse 20/50 entries before maybe to find your card name.
I designed autoconfigure to help these people. So (at the beggining) a not complete detection, but used to help the people that ALREADY normally compile the kernel.
[ In Alan diary, I found that he tried some drivers before to find the driver for Telsa new tape. Autoconfigure will help also hackers. Hmm. Was the card ISA? so forget the above example ]
So do you think autoconfigure can be usefull for people?
After adding a lot of detection and configuration in my database I found that in a modern machine, autoconfigure can build a complete and working configuration.
ESR read me autoconfiguration in this late stage, so he thinks about the 'single button' step for some aunts, students...
In summary: the autoconfigure is already usefull (IMHO) for a lot of people.
The other ESR scenarios are 'add-on' without extra working. They can be usefull, we can make it, but we should see if distributions/users like the 'one key configuration and building kernel'. Reading some *-users lists and doing some support in IRC, I think think people wuould like to use it.
Anyway these 'add-on' are nearly off-topic to lkml
giacomo
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