Subject: Re: Feature of different GENERIC-kernels
To: Christoph Ewering <eweri@uni-paderborn.de>
From: Scott Reynolds <scottr@og.org>
List: port-mac68k
Date: 01/13/1997 15:17:44
On Mon, 13 Jan 1997, Christoph Ewering wrote:

> O.K. So it is better to have a kernel with the highest number, right?
> Thanks Scott, but what are the differences between this kernels?

The bulk of the changes are machine-independent and are discussed on the
current-users mailing list.  In fact, the overwhelming majority of the
changes are discussed there.

> Why ran the G11 and G15 on my Q700 and not the G16 (first kernel with
> support for av, right?)

This issue points out the fact that I made experimental changes to the
kernels, and these changes are always made available as a source-level
patch to the kernel.  I'll be happy to explain the patches if anybody has
a specific question, but I do try to at least give a general overview of
what is included in the patch in the README file.

> It would be easier for a newbie if the readme explains which kernel for
> which mac. Or are the kernels for testing and you want to hear the bug
> reports? Than, why isn't it in the readme.

It's fairly important to realize that, for example, Quadras are not
officially supported, and to say "use this kernel for this machine" is
probably a bad idea.  The state of support for various machines is in
flux, and I periodically ask for feedback on -current kernels from
specific people that are having problems.  Also, note that the goal is to
have a _single_ kernel that works for everyone, and that _any_ new kernel
should be considered a candidate for fulfilling that goal.

> Scott, i don't want to blame anyone on this list, you've all done a very
> good job, but after three weeks of watching the newsgroup, I think there
> is a dokumentation problem.

Perhaps.  I'm not sure that it is wise to point new users to a specific
(unsupported) kernel, though, since things change so quickly.

> About two weeks ago i send some bug reports about the installation guide
> and some suggestions that i think will reduce the traffic of install
> questions, but i get no response from anyone.

I'm sorry that I missed them; did you submit them with send-pr(1) so that
they're in the bugs database?

--scott