On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 11:13 AM, Wookey <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Assuming 2.6.35 works with squeeze then it'll work with emdebian > squeeze-vintage. I see squeeze uses 2.6.32 (which is syncronised with > several other distros with relatively long support cycles IIRC). So > far as I know 2.6.35 will be fine too. (balloon is currently on 2.6.34 > and that works fine). >
Can you specify what you know about long support cycles w.r.t. 2.6.32. My project currently is using 2.6.27, which has been getting special attention from kernel.org regarding patches and some backporting (I think). Previously, kernel.org had supported 2.6.16 in such a manner for quite some time. > > So I don't think we need to do anything in particular. Users can > choose their favourite kernel as before but if they stray too far from > the Debian kernel corresponding to the Emdebian distro they are using > then eventually something will break. > This is the dilemma one faces. It is difficult in my experience to determine when critical kernel interfaces may have changed kernel to kernel. There are decent notes and highlights kept at http://kernelnewbies.org/LinuxChanges, but it is difficult to read through and tally what may or may not be of significant concern. Certainly, if using Squeeze Grip, all of the Emdebian packages are built against the 2.6.32 kernel headers, and will expect the interfaces found in that kernel. It is likely there will be a high degree of compatibility for these packages back a certain number of kernels and forwards a certain number of kernels, but no guarantees. I am considering porting forward to 2.6.32, since I am now targeting Squeeze, but want to do so only if there is some long term support for security fixes and patches. It's a lot of work to do the port forward, since I maintain the kernel and all of the customizations needed for my system under revision control and need to systematically apply the same changes to a new kernel. Also, this makes using a Debian kernel even more troublesome, since kernel.org at least publishes delta patch revisions as they update a kernel, which can be easily applied in order to update a modified tree. I'm not sure how I'd exactly pick through the changes to a Debian kernel package to apply changes (security updates, bug fixes, etc) from the patch directory as it changes over the life of the package. It's not nearly as simple as picking up the delta patches from kernel.org, since there is no straightforward way I know of to decipher the chronology of patches, or to even know if they are additive. -Jim
