Missing ext2 applets in 1.4.2

Michael Cashwell mike.cashwell at sdrcinc.net
Mon Jun 18 12:52:28 UTC 2007


On Fri, 2007-06-15 at 23:13 +0200, Denis Vlasenko wrote:

> On Friday 15 June 2007 18:00, Michael Cashwell wrote:
> > 
> > I'm trying to figure out how best to add tools like fdisk.ext2, mke2fs,
> > etc. to a busybox 1.4.2 setup on ARM. I've found old_e2fsprogs but it
> > seems disconnected from the config/build system. That's not surprising
> > given that e2fsprogs/Config.in has them all commented out, but I can't
> > find any explanation as to why.
> > 
> > Can someone fill me in on why these ext2 applets are turned off? Were
> > they being updated in 1.4 and I should just move to 1.5.x? Or were they
> > being removed and I need to look outside busybox?
> 
> Most of e2fsprogs applets were disabled, because they are very bloated.

(BTW, I've since checked 1.5.1 and it's the same way.)

If bloat is the only issue, then wouldn't leaving them in-place but just
not enabled by default in the config scripts be sufficient? (I could see
a "Bloat Alert" in the config screens being helpful.) Are they really
more bloated than the free-standing apps I'd have to use instead?

#-ing them out in the Config.in file goes beyond concern over bloat
(that disabling them would address) and makes me concerned that some
functional issue worse than bloat was found wrong with them.

So if I need their functionality I see two paths. If these applets are
going to be removed from busybox then I should just look elsewhere now.
If they are slated for de-bloating and will come back (but there's
nothing other than bloat known to be wrong with them) then I should just
re-enable them in 1.5.1.

Anyone know the details here?

Thanks,
-Mike





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