From: Niall O Broin (niall at domain magicgoeshere.com)
Date: Sun 21 May 2000 - 22:15:09 IST
On Sun, May 21, 2000 at 03:15:14PM +0100, Paul Jakma wrote:
>
> > difficult to do than just separating out arch/*. However, I still think it
> > would be a useful thing for me as a poor modem user,
>
> perhaps you should get to know the "patch" command. Do people really
> download all 10MB of the kernel everytime it comes out, rather than
> the odd hundred kB patch? wow...
Perhaps you should get to know other people's situations. Like most people,
my machines are based on various distributions. The one I wanted to upgrade
is running SuSE 6.3 which has kernel 2.2.13. However, in common with RedHat
(and I presume Mandrake) the kernel sources SuSE deliver are not as
delivered from kernel.org. Specifically, SuSE provides, from
rpm -qi lx_suse-2.2.13.SuSE-3
Kernel sources with the following modifications:
- updated ISDN subsystem
- new aic7xxx driver 5.1.13
- internationalized kernel config
- updated network drivers
- driver for DAC960 and Compaq SMART2 RAID
One thing I have learnt about the patch command from my 15 years as a
professional Unix user is that if you want to have any success with it, you
had better be patching the same files as the producer of the patch used. In
the case of SuSE delivered kernel sources, I'm not. If SuSE provide patches
to later kernel versions on their site, they're well hidden. I'm sure they
don't because one thing their support staff don't need is to be dealing with
people who have installed SuSE X.Y and have then installed god knows what
set of kernel patches. They're quite clear in their support service level
agreement (if you can dignify it with that title) that they will not support
people using any kernel other than what SuSE delivers, so I suppose they
don't provide later kernels in order not to encourage people to use them.
Also, although I play with Linux, and keep up with what's happening, my main
use for it is professional and I don't have the time (or the inclination) to
update machines with every kernel release, so it's easier to download the
whole thing every now and again (and it's a habit I got into when the
European taxpayer was paying for a stonking big pipe to my desk :-) ). And
as it's easier, I just would like it to be a little faster.
Regards,
Niall O Broin
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