> >
> >(*) Right now we're getting ready for a release, so if you try to
> >get the -current source off of the ftp or sup servers, you will
> >really get the 1.3_alpha source.
> >
> 
> Thanks for that explanation.  How about getting the kernel src for 1.2.1 so
> that I can compile a non Generic kernel. On ftp.netbsd what looks to be
> kernel src under 1.2.1 is a bunch of files with two letter endings. What is
> the deal with those?

That should be covered (deep in) the install docs. Each of those files is
sized so that 5 fit on a 1.2 MB floppy and 6 fit on a 1.44 MB floppy.
You do something like:

cat base_name.?? |tar -xzf - 

and it all gets extracted. Or just cat base_name.?? > base_name.tgz will make
a tgz file.

> Again, I'm trying to come to terms with the way netbsd handles kernels.
> The one other system that I compiled kernels was Linux. If you are familar
> with that, then you would know that using the generic kernal that got your
> system going was a big memory hog. You could choose a kernel release, get
> the src for it (which came with the cdrom) and then re-compile it not to
> fix anything, but to make it as lean as possible. That is what I'd like to
> do for my se/30 and 1.2.1.

Hmm. I'm vaguely familiar w/ how Linux does things. I'll try to
describe how NetBSD's different.

Linux really is just a kernel. Linus only controls the kernel, and other
folks (Slackware, RedHat, Debian) put together full systems. NetBSD
controls the whole thing. So for 1.3 there will be one NetBSD 1.3 ls
command (as a trivial example). There aren't "kernel releases", just
releases.

To answer the question I think you meant to ask, w/ NetBSD you just
pull down the kernel source, configure the kernel, and build. There's
a FAQ about it on puma (www/ftp/puma.macbsd.com), and Colin wrote about
it recently. Basically you copy the GENERIC configuration file (in
sys/arch/mac68k/conf) to the name of your kernel (I have POKEY the IIsi,
LANDAU, and VESPASIA (anyone read the Thomas Pitt detective stories?)).
Then you edit out what you don't want. Then you run the config program on
the kernel config file. Next you start compiling. On my IIsi, the
compile takes about 4 hours.

> I got the current src tree, but again, now I now that its 1.3alpha. What
> happens if I compile that on a 1.2.1 machine?

Unfortunatly you will have a lot of pain if you try to compile 1.3alpha
on a 1.2.1 machine. The make system (both the make rule files in /usr/share/mk
and make itself) and gcc have changed a fair bit.

The easiest thing to do (if downloading's cheep) is to just install the
1.3_alpha release. Then you won't have to compile anything, except possably
your own kernel.

Take care,

Bill