[ATrpms-devel] dkms x kmdls (was: CGAL FC6)

[Tako Schotanus]

Paulo Cavalcanti wrote:
>
>
>
>
>     > Changing the subject again, what is your opinion about dkms
>     approach.
>     > I read in the Freshrpms list that Mathias and Dag seems to
>     approve it.
>     >
>     > Despite the fact I do not like anything from Dell, it seems to
>     me that
>     > forcing to have a compiler in the computer is not the best
>     solution.
>
>     Indeed. The dkms author once discussed this on this list and we
>     considered merging the kmdl and dkms approaches. We found out that
>     they already did the same thing only that kmdl specialized in
>     producing
>     packages while dkms specialized in custom kernel builds.
>
>     At that time dkms wouldn't offer anything more than kmdls can, but
>     time has passed since and both kmdl and dkms evolved further. Do you
>     see any benefits of today's dkms over today's kmdls?
>
>
> No. kmdls are pre-compiled while dkms are compiled during installation.
>
> I think that for people with customized kernels, dkms is better 
> (perfect for Dell). Also, it simplifies the work of the packager 
> because he does not need to generate a lot of different kmdl versions.
>
> On the other hand, for an ordinary user with official and updated 
> kernels, kmdls are much simpler. Furthermore, certain servers to be 
> really secure should not have any compiler. If something goes wrong, I 
> think it is difficult for a user to debug a dkms module installation.
>
> From my point of view, I really prefer using kmdls.
>
Of course having the choice would even be better :-)

I looked at it quite some time ago and even considered making some 
packages that could be included into ATrpms, but knowing hardly anything 
about dkms and making rpms made that a bit more difficult than I had 
hoped for ;-)

But it would be a great idea of course. You could just install the base 
dkms package (which would ensure you have the minimal compiler packages 
installed) and one rpm for each dkms-based kernel module and each time 
your kernel changes all your kernel modules get recompiled automatically.

Dkms has some nice management functions to see which modules have been 
compiled for which kernels, removing compiled modules, triggering 
compiles etc.

I think there's even a distro out there that has dkms packages for 
kernel modules, I think it was Mandriva? (Yes, googling for "dkms 
nvidia" turns up several rpms for mandriva) They might be used as a 
starting point for Fedora RPMs? I have no idea how different Mandriva 
RPMs are from Fedora's.

Cheers,
 -Tako