Re: [gentoo-user] use of /usr/src/linux symlink

[Rumen Yotov]

On Tue, 2005-11-08 at 17:18 +0000, Digby Tarvin wrote:
> Something which I havn't found any explicit elaboration of in the
> documentation...
>
> The convention in the Linux/gentoo filesystem seems to be to have a unique
> directory for each installed kernel in /usr/src, with a symbolic link to
> the 'current' kernel directory named /usr/src/linux..
>
> The question is - is this just a user convenience, or will parts of
> the system break if it is not maintained correctly?
>
> The reason I ask is that if I have several kernels which I have configured
> grub to allow me to select from at boot time, where should this symlink
> point? The newest kernel? An experimental one being worked on? The one most
> recently booted from. If the latter case then it is likely to be wrong for
> a finite period following boot until the system has come up far enough to
> allow me to update it.
>
> Anyone know what is likely to break (if anything) if I boot from a kernel
> other than the one which corresponds to the directory /usr/src/linux points
> to, and neglect to update the link? Does it direct (for instance) the target
> directory for an emerge of new kernel components? Or does it perhaps have to
> point to the kernel being built during any recompile?
>
> Regards,
> DigbyT
> --
> Digby R. S. Tarvin                                             digbyt@××××××.com
> http://www.digbyt.com
Hi,
There seems to exist at least two current kernels - one is the kernel to
which /usr/src/linux points, this one is used by most (all ?)
kernel-module programs (i have 3 of them: nvidia, arpstar, loop-aes; had
also alsa-driver). When you compile/recompile any one of them they use
the kernel sources pointed by /usr/src/linux. Patch kernel sources too
(e.g. "l7-filter").
The second kernel is your running kernel (available by "uname -r") this
one is the one actually running at any givenn time. Don't have any
examples of something using this one. Anybody here?
HTH.Rumen