Subject: Kernel changes on release branch and package incompatabilities
To: , <tech-pkg@netbsd.org>
From: David Brownlee <abs@netbsd.org>
List: tech-kern
Date: 07/18/2001 14:05:33
	Virtually all packages are compatible within a given release branch
	(1.4 - 1.4.3, vs 1.5 & 1.5.1). A very few cannot be shared and are
	marked OSVERSION_SPECIFIC, generally due to kernel interface changes.

	    benchmarks/hbench devel/libgtop lang/STk net/arla
	    sysutils/aperture sysutils/gtop

	It would be nice to be able to build all packages to run across
	all subversion within the same release branch in a single pass.
	(It would also eliminate the 'everything in 1.5, plus a tiny set
	duplicated in 1.5.1, which confuses the hell out of people looking
	for 1.5.1 packages).

	To that end would there be any sense in keeping the old kernel
	interfaces under something like #ifdef __NETBSD_INCLUDE_COMPAT_15_,
	and setting the affected packages to compile the lkms or similar
	multiple times. To avoid cluttering up the includes I'd expect them
	to be present only for the last major release.

	It means sysutils/aperture compiled on 1.5 would be different
	to 1.5.1, but we have that now, and at least in the new setup
	the 1.5.1 version would be able to work on both 1.5 and 1.5.1.
	(which is of particular use as people uploading binary packages
	to ftp.netbsd.org should be using the latest minor release or
	release branch).


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