[uClibc] Thoughts on buildroot targets

[Thomas Cameron]

On Sunday 23 January 2005 06:50 pm, Erik Andersen wrote:
> Currently using buildroot to build software for specific devices
> is rather more of a pain that I had planned.  When I first
> created the 'target' area, I originally had something in mind
> such as adding:
>
[Snippety-doo-dah]
> etc, etc, etc, where people could customize things for their
> target device and share their configurations, making it easy to
> later build for devices with similar feature sets.  My little
> wireless access point for instance is a Soekris net4521.  With
> current buildroot it is sortof a paint to copy all the needed
> files into place, select the correct kernel config, etc.  With
> some sortof scheme such as the above, I could easily build for my
> net4521 AP without forcing i.e. my kernel config on the whole
> world that is not interested in having CONFIG_MELAN=y.
>
> Would implementing such a structure make people happy?  Or should
> I just keep things simple and let people use i.e. openembedded
> when they want something more complex?  Thoughts anyone?
>
>  -Erik
>
> --
> Erik B. Andersen             http://codepoet-consulting.com/
> --This message was written using 73% post-consumer electrons--

Erik,
 I do agree that having things like your personal config files checked into 
CVS is a hassle from an end user's perspective. :-P However, I have some 
serious comments to make regarding the idea.

 If buildroot were to change again, I think it would do the most good to 
convert it into something like Gentoo's "portage" system. Before anybody 
fires up the grill to roast me, hear me out. Gentoo, and the ports system it 
has evolved from, is a very powerful tool for the knowledgeable individual. 
Any component of the system can be completely customized, "packages" may be 
assembled by simply creating a script that makes use of a thoroughly laid-out 
framework, and "profiles" of packages can be created to ease the assembly of 
a particular type of system.

 I know that MANY of the developers involved with busybox, uClibc, and 
buildroot are Debian users, and I certainly don't want to start a debate over 
packaging systems. I'm simply pointing out that portage does exactly the type 
of thing you are looking for. In essence, here's a possible structure for 
buildroot:

buildroot/
 framework/
  sys-kernel/
   erik-sources/
    ChangeLog
    Manifest
    erik-sources-2.4.20.ebuild
    files/
     erik-sources-2.4.20.schedlat.patch
     erik-sources-2.4.20.version.patch
     digest-erik-sources.2.4.20
    metadata.xml
   firewall-sources/
    ChangeLog
    Manifest
    firewall-sources-2.6.10.ebuild
    files/
     firewall-sources-2.6.10.openwall.patch
     firewall-sources-2.6.10.netfilter.patch
     firewall-sources-2.6.10.version.patch
     digest-firewall-sources-2.6.10
  app-admin/
   fam/
    ChangeLog
    Manifest
    fam-2.7.0-r1.ebuild
    fam-2.7.0-r2.ebuild
    fam-2.7.0.ebuild
    files/
     digest-fam-2.7.0
     digest-fam-2.7.0-r1
     digest-fam-2.7.0-r2
     fam-2.7.0-dnotify.patch
     famd
    metadata.xml
   syslog-ng/
    ChangeLog
    Manifest
    files/
     digest-syslog-ng-1.6.5-r2
     syslog-ng.conf.debian
     syslog-ng.conf.gentoo
     syslog-ng.logrotat
     syslog-ng.rc6
    metadata.xml
    syslog-ng-1.6.5-r2.ebuild
  profiles/
   default-x86-1.0/
    2.4/
     packages
     parent
     virtuals
    make.defaults
    packages
    parent
    virtuals
   firewall-ppc-1.4/
    2.6/
     packages
     parent
     virtuals
    make.defaults
    packages
    parent
    virtuals


 Now, I'm sure that the full system that portage provides would be WAY 
overkill, but the possibilities are nearly limitless. Or, we could scrap the 
whole thing and go with openembedded. I haven't personally used or looked at 
it, but I'm about to now. Anyway, thoughts? Ideas? Remarks of disgust and 
disbelief?

-- 
Tom Cameron
tom<at>drdabbles<dot>us
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