[gentoo-user] [Way OT] Kernel Symlink use or not use?

[Jakob Buchgraber]

hi @ all

I considered switching to LFS a while ago as this would be the only 
Linux "distribution" fulfilling my requirements (besides Gentoo, of course).
So when reading the LFS Book there was a warning saying

Quote from LFS Book 6.2:
 >> Some kernel documentation recommends creating a symlink from 
/usr/src/linux pointing to
 >> the kernel source directory. This is specific to kernels prior to 
the 2.6 series and must not be created
 >> on an LFS system as it can cause problems for packages you may wish 
to build once your base LFS
 >> system is complete.

The Gentoo Documentation however says:

Quote from http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/kernel-upgrade.xml
 >> Gentoo requires that the /usr/src/linux symbolic link points to the 
sources of the kernel you are running.

Quote from http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml
 >> Note: The above example assumes that /usr/src/linux symlink points 
to the kernel sources you want to use. Please ensure the same before 
proceeding.

But the $KERNEL_DIR/README says:

Quote from $KERNEL_DIR/README
 >> Do NOT use the /usr/src/linux area! This area has a (usually 
incomplete) set of kernel headers that are used by the library header files.
 >> They should match the library, and not get messed up by whatever the 
kernel-du-jour happens to be.

So after reading this I searched groups.google.com and the forums about 
this issue and found a different approach, which can be used instead of 
the /usr/src/linux symlink.

It's as follows:
    In /etc/profile
        Set $KERNEL_DIR to /kernel/src/current (symlink)
        Set $KBUILD_OUTPUT to /dir/to/store/output/files

So what's the best way and _why_?
Does it even matter?

Cheers,
Jay

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