[2.6] building extra modules, with r/o source

[Eduard Bloch <edi@gmx.de>]

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#include <hallo.h>

I have a general question to the new kernel build system which is
claimed to be very generic: how does someone build external modules
having the MINIMAL SET of the kernel headers and other configuration
files? With Kernel 2.4, it was mostly feasible:

 - compiler calls were identical and portable
 - MODVERSIONS setting and modified compiler command could be configured
   using the .config file and few kernel headers
 - compiler name could be extracted from the configured headers
 - kernel headers only were enough to build the most modules out there

With 2.6, I see two major flaws:

 - module writers are encouraged to use the kernel build system to
   compile modules. Problem: apparently the whole build system must be
   shipped together with the headers. Solution: unknown. I would like to
   see something like the gtk-config script generated during the
   complete kernel build which would provide all needed information
   including compiler command. External modules could get the complete
   command line by running 
   sh /usr/src/kernel-foo-headers/kmod-build --compile foo.c

 - the build system also tries to write in the kernel source directory.
   This is simply not acceptable if /usr is mounted read-only or if you
   try to build external modules as user. The only good solution I see
   is using some temporary directory to write run-time files. I tried
   setting different variables in Makefile but that did not help, and
   the build scripts are not documented consistent enough to be easy to
   understand.

MfG,
Eduard.
-- 
Wußten Sie schon...
... daß "finish" gar nicht finnisch ist, sondern englisch?

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