-=Warning This May be a Rant=- It would be nice if catalyst didn't force the use of genkernel... IMHO genkernel sucks. It should be possible to build the stage 1,2 and then run make menuconfig; make modules_install; And go from there... Mabe im missing something but I've built quite a share of custom & generic kernels and have only had 1 sucessful run with genkernel. Not to mention how long it takes when livecd-stage2 fails because of genkernel. I can chroot into /var/tmp/catalyst/livecd-stage2-default-xxxxxxx/ and successfuly run make; make modules_install ... but genkernel fails. Seems like portage oughta be able to fill most of the job catalyst is trying to accomplish... ie: ROOT="/var/tmp/livecd-stage2" emerge system the script could rsync stage1 before that command and produce a stage based on make.conf etc etc from the actual stage1 ( like a real install ) instead of makeing spec files. I understand the loss of ability to target from one platform to another but if this is ever in portage it becomes a reality for catalyst too. It should be possible to profile or backup the db created by emerge. So after a stage completes one could do an emerge sync and then produce an "upgraded" stage or cd from this profile. Instead of "emptying" /var/* var/db/ var/cache/ etc etc this could be saved as part of a profile for later upgrades|additions. Ok well...mabe im ranting...forgive me....genkernel sucks. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. catalyst -f Mylivecd-stage2.spec 2. attempt to decipher when why and how error happens. 3. repeat Actual Results: time consumption waiting for genkernel to fail with an indecipherable error. Expected Results: shiny tiny bootable linux cd with a custom or generic kernel. ability to upgrade the cd's profile at a later time, adding or removeing functionality from both kernel and userspace. OH and forget easily scripting catalyst! Comand line options are mangled by its python, some are lists some are strings none behave when passed in a script variable unless you know what catalyst expects and quote accordingly "'The' 'End'"
It would be nice if catalyst didn't force the use of genkernel... IMHO genkernel sucks. Well, there is no easier way to consistently automate the kernel building process. Genkernel has come a long way, but of course, it still has some bugs. If you don't like it, write some patches for it. It should be possible to build the stage 1,2 and then run make menuconfig; make modules_install; And go from there... Mabe im missing something but I've built quite a share of custom & generic kernels and have only had 1 sucessful run with genkernel. Not to mention how long it takes when livecd-stage2 fails because of genkernel. Then catalyst ceases to be automatic. User intervention is not a good thing for a tool that people expect to be automated. I have built 100+ livecds and genkernel has only failed a handful of times. Seems like portage oughta be able to fill most of the job catalyst is trying to accomplish... ie: ROOT="/var/tmp/livecd-stage2" emerge system the script could rsync stage1 before that command and produce a stage based on make.conf etc etc from the actual stage1 ( like a real install ) instead of makeing spec files. What? Catalyst uses Portage to do all of the building as is. Also, why emerge system? The build process now is quite efficient. Ok well...mabe im ranting...forgive me....genkernel sucks. Yes, you are.
