[CentOS] Problems with building a complete kernel

> My 30-second glance at it suggests it's not very good; the prep stage is
> quite wrong. For example, kernel-devel is a part of the output of the
> build process. You cannot install it before you have built your kernel.

That was mostly to pull in the other prerequisites to make sure folks
have everything. It was easier to tell them to install 1 package than
list the 15 or so which are needed. If you would like to spell out the
dependencies individually, you're welcome to modify the wiki (or at
least pass changes along, as it may still be restricted to a core
group.. I'm not sure).

And you can most certainly install the ones from the distro before you
build your own. I simply took the lazy way out in the documentation.
I'm not really a fan of people rebuilding the kernel anyway. This
thread is a prime example of why.

1. There was no need specified for why a custom kernel was needed. If
such a need was spelled out, it's possible that much better help could
be provided, or it could even be added to the centosplus kernel.

2. No build log or error of any kind was shown to help troubleshoot.
And rather than figuring out what went wrong, the user moved to a
drastically different set of instructions, which use a drastically
different kernel. Doing so without proper understanding could (and
likely would) lead to problems down the road. (The install with
--nodeps on the howtoforge listing is a nice touch)

3. The user in question seems to have not done homework regarding
centos and XFS, and will be modifying the 2.6.9 xfs code instead of
using the much nicer xfs code backported by ex-SGI folks specifically
for centos.

4. There are many considerations in building a custom kernel for
centos, such as the audit libs, utmp compatability, current system
compatability (as demonstrated by the lvm troubles) and so on.

</rant>
Not at all a dig at you John, so don't take it that way. Interesting
script you have there.



-- 
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
George Orwell