Messages in this thread |  | | Date | Tue, 14 Jan 1997 09:38:49 -0500 | Subject | Compilation problems with 2.1.20, first report | From | (Dale R. Worley) |
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In order to have a testbed for some changes I'm making, I attempted to build a 2.1.20 kernel with *everything*. The resulting kernel is a 4.2 Mb behemoth, but it has revealed a large number of compilation problems. At the bottom of this message is a synopsis of the problems I've seen. But this experience has suggested to me that the complaints about the large number of compilation errors in 2.1.* kernels is an important one -- believe it or not, I have spent two weeks (calendar time) trying to get 2.1.20 to compile.
The argument has been raised that the 2.1.* kernels are "development" code and people should accepts whatever they get. I believe that this idea in its extreme form is counterproductive for the overall development of Linux -- when someone makes a global change (e.g., removing a member from a central kernel data structure) that makes a bunch of code no longer compile, it would be far less work overall if the person who did so would make at least a quick fix, rather than having dozens of other developers go through the laborious process of trying to figure out what the problem is and what a workable fix is -- especially since they might not know what the global change is supposed to do!
There is no net benefit in having a dozen or more threads of development held up in order to make one move along a little faster.
Dale -- Dale R. Worley Ariadne Internet Services Voice: +1 617-899-7949 Fax: +1 617-899-7946 E-mail: worley@ariadne.com "Internet-based electronic commerce solutions to real business problems."
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