Messages in this thread | | | Date | Sat, 4 Aug 2007 20:52:12 +0200 | From | "Jesper Juhl" <> | Subject | Re: [PATCH] Documentation/make/headers_install.txt |
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On 04/08/07, Rob Landley <rob@landley.net> wrote: > From: Rob Landley <rob@landley.net> > > Signed-off-by: Rob Landley <rob@landley.net> > > Some documentation for "make headers_install". > > --- > > Earlier discussion was at http://lkml.org/lkml/2007/6/22/7 and I > believe I've responded to all of David's comments. > > --- /dev/null 2007-04-23 10:59:00.000000000 -0500 > +++ linux-2.6/Documentation/make/headers_install.txt 2007-08-04 13:04:51.000000000 -0500 > @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ > +Exporting kernel headers for use by userspace > +============================================= > + > +The "make headers_install" command exports the kernel's header files in a > +form suitable for use by userspace programs. > + > +The linux kernel's exported header files describe the API for user space > +programs attempting to use kernel services. These kernel header files are > +used by the system's C library (such as glibc or uClibc) to define available > +system calls, as well as constants and structures to be used with these > +system calls. The C library's header files include the kernel header files > +from the "linux" subdirectory. The system's libc headers are usually > +installed at the default location /usr/include and the kernel headers in > +subdirectories under that (most notably /usr/include/linux and > +/usr/include/asm). > + > +Kernel headers are backwards compatible, but not forwards compatible. This
Perhaps change the text "are backwards compatible" into "try very hard to be backwards compatible" ... ?
> +means that a program built against a C library using older kernel headers > +should run on a newer kernel (although it may not have access to new > +features), but a program built against newer kernel headers may not work on an > +older kernel. > + > +The "make headers_install" command can be run in the top level directory of the > +kernel source code (or using a standard out-of-tree build). It takes two > +optional arguments: > + > + make headers_install ARCH=i386 INSTALL_HDR_PATH=/usr/include > + > +ARCH indicates which architecture to produce headers for, and defaults to the > +current architecture. The linux/asm directory of the exported kernel headers > +is platform-specific, to see a complete list of supported architectures use > +the command:
how about s/"the command"/"the following command from inside a kernel source tree"/ ?
> + > + ls -d include/asm-* | sed 's/.*-//' > + > +INSTALL_HDR_PATH indicates where to install the headers. It defaults to > +"./usr/include". > + > +The command "make headers_install_all" exports headers for all architectures > +simultaneously. (This is mostly of interest to distribution maintainers, > +who create an architecture-independent tarball from the resulting include > +directory.) Remember to provide the appropriate linux/asm directory via "mv" > +or "ln -s" before building a C library with headers exported this way. > + > +The kernel header export infrastructure is maintained by David Woodhouse > +<dwmw2@infradead.org>. >
Overall, looks good.
Acked by: Jesper Juhl <jesper.juhl@gmail.com>
-- Jesper Juhl <jesper.juhl@gmail.com> Don't top-post http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/T/top-post.html Plain text mails only, please http://www.expita.com/nomime.html - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
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