kern/70881: 5.3 beta1 kernel.generic missing from /boot/kernel/

[JJB]

The following reply was made to PR kern/70881; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: "JJB" <Barbish3 at adelphia.net>
To: "Brooks Davis" <brooks at one-eyed-alien.net>
Cc: "Joe" <fbsd_user at a1poweruser.com>,
	<freebsd-gnats-submit at freebsd.org>
Subject: RE: kern/70881: 5.3 beta1 kernel.generic missing from /boot/kernel/
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 21:11:37 -0400

 Brooks Davis wrote:
 > On Mon, Aug 23, 2004 at 08:26:46PM -0400, JJB wrote:
 >> Brooks Davis wrote:
 >>> On Mon, Aug 23, 2004 at 08:05:10PM +0000, Joe wrote:
 >>>>
 >>>> Downloaded 5.3 beta1-i386-mininstall.iso, ran md5 checksum and
 >>>> count matched, burned to cd and installed using
 standard/kern-dev.
 >>>> New boot process is missing kernel.generic module in
 /boot/kernel
 >>>
 >>> Why are you expecting one?  The kernel on the boot media is
 GENERIC
 >>> in
 >>> 5.3.
 >>>
 >>> -- Brooks
 >>
 >> First of all the 5.3 kernel that comes with the iso file has nfs
 and
 >> core debugging options turned on so it's not a true generic as in
 >> what is expected for an stable version based on past stable
 version
 >> back to 3.0.  The 4.x kernel.generic never gets deleted and is
 >> always there as built-in safe guard backup if there is problem
 with
 >> compiling a new kernel. Now I realize that there is a new boot
 >> process from 4.x so maybe there needs to be a
 /boot/kernel.generic
 >> directory that is a copy of /boot/kernel directory the system
 >> defaults to boot from. The function of this new directory is much
 >> the same as the kernel.generic file in 4.x. It acts as a built-in
 >> safe guard so the box can always have something to fall back on
 to
 >> boot the system so it can be used as platform to fix whatever
 caused
 >> the original boot problems. The bottom line is 5.3 stable should
 >> have the same built-in safe guards as 4.x stable versions have.
 This
 >> is really a cleanup item for the release built team.
 >
 > It's not reasionable to expect that 5.x will be identical to 4.x.
 In
 > this case I don't buy your logic anyway since the reason
 > kernel.generic existed before was that the boot media didn't
 actually
 > use GENERIC (due to space constratints on the floppies) and that
 > provided an easy way for users to use GENERIC without a recompile.
 > It was never there as a backup kernel.  That's job of kernel.old
 or
 > what ever you you choose to copy working kernels to.
 >
 > -- Brooks
 
 You better check your facts. All 4.x versions are delivered with
 /kernel and /kernel.generic. They both are the same size and /kernel
 is the default boot uses. This has nothing to do with floppy
 booting. You make no sense and give no reason for not having the
 release build team just build a /boot/kernel.generic directory to
 continue the same high level of built-in safe guards. The user
 community knows it 's there and it must have been important enough
 that the 4.x build team put it there in the first place. What makes
 you think that it's no longer needed or wanted by the users
 community. All indications are the current built team has just over
 looked this detail that you are so easily discarding. Isn't the
 point of the weekly 5.3 beta build serials to fix these little
 oversights on the way to creating 5.3 stable? I don't think you are
 with the 5.3 beta testing cycle yet.