[PATCH] Cleaning up the kernel postinst script

[Reinhard Tartler]

Matt Zimmerman <mdz at ubuntu.com> writes:

> On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 08:02:58AM -0600, Tim Gardner wrote:
>> Matt Zimmerman wrote:
>> > We could continue to use the massively complex one for ports if that's
>> > needed, but I think x86+x86_64 could be much, much simpler.
>> > 
>> > What do you think?
>> 
>> I've applied the enhanced error reporting patch to Karmic. As for the
>> larger question, I'd be happy to use an arch dependent postinst that is
>> tuned for PC platforms, but I'd likely need to work with someone on the
>> foundations team (my perl skills have long since atrophied).
>
> One of the ways in which it could be simplified would be to rewrite it in
> POSIX sh instead of perl.  Most of the meat in it is calls to system()
> anyway.
>
>> It seems like something one _really_ wants to get correct.
>
> Indeed, so the simpler the better, in my book.

The upstream kernel is able to create debian packages using 'make
deb-pkg' from the main makefiles. These .deb's postinst script have as single
functionality to run scripts in /etc/kernel/{pre,post}{inst,rm}.d/.

End of march this year there was some discussion in debian to make
bootloaders, initramfs-tools, etc. drop its installation scripts in that
directory and let them deal with making the new kernel bootable:

http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.debian.devel.kernel/46349

I'm not sure if there have been concrete results of it, it seems to me
the thread died out.

Has this been discussed in Ubuntu as well? I feel it would make kernel
development and testing custom kernel much easier, if
scripts/package/builddeb via 'make deb-pkg' were properly integrated
into ubuntu.


-- 
Gruesse/greetings,
Reinhard Tartler, KeyID 945348A4