Kernel module packages (was - Re: Pre-Review: Asterisk)

[Michal Jaegermann]

On Sat, Apr 02, 2005 at 12:05:19PM -0600, Tom 'spot' Callaway wrote:
> 
> Unfortunately, there is no sane way to deal with kernel-module addon
> packages yet.
.....
> 
> There are several ways to hack around this issue. We could make each
> package have a unique name by cramming the kernel uname -r in the addon
> package name,

External kernel modules are a given kernel specific.  One would
think that should be reflected in a package name, or maybe better
"identifier", or otherwise you have quick descent to madness in a
system maitenance.

> but thats hideous.

Hm, why really hideous?  Any better proposals from a point of
view of a system user?

> It breaks all our ownership, bugzilla,
> and CVS infrastructure.

That indeed could be a serious problem but maybe there are ways to
fix that?  It sounds like you are looking at the issue from the
wrong end; possibly a false impression.

> where if kernel-module-foo-2.6.10-%{release}
> is installed, and kernel-module-foo-2.6.10-%{release+1} exists, then
> only kernel-module-foo-2.6.10-%{release} gets upgraded (and not
> kernel-module-foo-2.6.9-%{release},

It does not seem to be good enough in this form.  If you happen to
have kernels 2.6.10-%{release} and 2.6.10-%{release+1} installed in
parallel then you need modules for both.  You may also have smp and
non-smp and maybe something more.  Or you mean different releases of
module packages for the same kernel?  Then "2.6.10" is far from
sufficient. You would need a kernel version, kernel release and a
module release somewhere in this logic and quite a bit of change in
a supporting infrastructure if you want to avoid an existing practice
of making a kernel version and a kernel release a part of a module
package name.  The trouble is that various existing tools all over
the place use these 'n-v-r' package identifiers and breaking that
expectation does not sound like a very exciting prospect. Hacking
CVS and bugzilla makes the problem at least limited to more or
less one location.  Some "special" names with a "variable" part
by a convention, for example?  Do I miss something?

   Michal