[maemo-developers] Community Kernels garage project created

[From: Graham Cobb]

On Tuesday 15 July 2008 09:25:36 Frantisek Dufka wrote:
> Primary goal is to accumulate kernel patches so they do not get lost,
> secondary goal is to build kernel images for all devices and latest
> versions of all IT200x releases. Patches should primarily apply to
> kernel sources release in Maemo SDK (i.e not current linux-omap).

Do you see this also addressing the related issue of building and distributing 
kernel modules?

I have a package (sisusbvga) which contains a kernel module (to drive an 
external VGA adapter).  At the moment, I have built the kernel module using 
the instructions on the wiki and then I package it up as a binary blob -- in 
other words the debian package does NOT build the module from source.  If 
possible, I would like to change that so that the debian package builds the 
module, in the autobuilder.

Actually in my case the situation may be reasonably straightforward: the 
sisusbvga driver is actually part of the standard Linux kernel, although a 
patch is required to get it to build for the Internet Tablet (I ought to 
submit the patch to LKML one day).  So, I guess it falls within the scope of 
this project anyway, assuming you are addressing the problem of kernel 
modules as well as the kernel image itself.

There are another couple of issues -- are they part of this project?

Firstly, as it stands today, I can't find a way to install the module such 
that it can be found and loaded automatically when the hardware is seen on 
boot: /lib/modules is only in the initfs.

The other problem is how to deal with kernel versions.  I believe the plan for 
Maemo going forward is that even kernel upgrades may occur.  What package do 
I specify as a dependency so that my package only installs on the correct 
kernel version?  How do I get the autobuilder to build the various versions 
of my module needed for the different kernel versions?  What magic do I need 
to put in my debian/control to get the installer to install the correct 
version of my module for the kernel version?

Graham