Fedora 9 'git' source kernel ??

[William Case]

Hi Patrick

On Mon, 2008-07-14 at 12:25 -0430, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:
> On Mon, 2008-07-14 at 12:09 -0400, William Case wrote:
> > Hi;
> > 
> > Just checking that I am doing this correctly.
> > 
> > I want to start exploring the Linux kernel.  (I realize when the time
> > comes I should ask any in depth questions elsewhere -- but for now I am
> > just looking for start help.)  I have 'git' installed.  I am ready to
> > download the Fedora 9 source.  Members of my local LUG have advised me
> > that I should be sure to download the 'git' kernel.  They mostly use
> > Debian.
> > 

I understand git is a version control system for linux.  Many members of
my local LUG are Linux programmers who use git.  I am trying to catchup
without being too competitive.

I was also going to install scope -- in the hope that would let me bop
around without too much difficulty.  Major questions I will reserve for
the kernelnewbies list.

> > I don't see anything in the source repo that might equal a 'git' Kernel
> > -- just the regular ordinary source rpm; kernel-2.6.25-14.fc9.src.rpm
> > 
> > Should I download that or is there somewhere else an animal called or
> > set up as a 'git' kernel??
> 
> Bill, 'git' is a version-control system used in the kernel development
> process (and other places), so the "git kernel" means some version of
> the kernel source as released by kernel.org, i.e. Linus and friends.
> 
I was hoping to substitute a fedora kernel.  That is, Kill two birds
with one stone.  Learn some basics about my way around the kernel and
git; and, be able to relate it to what is running on my machine.  A time
will come when I will want to use it in a virtual machine (borrowed
lingo -- I don't really know what I am talking about yet re: virtual
machines).

> OTOH the Fedora kernel is a git kernel (usually a minor version or two
> behind) plus Fedora patches. You can use yum to install it for your
> reading pleasure without having to understand anything about git.

I have used SVN a little bit, so I am not completely new to version
control systems.  One of the LUG members looked up the Fedora kernel and
as you say, said it was near enough to the latest version "to make no
never mind".

Let me put it this way.  Starting something new is when the major screw
ups take place.  You can introduce yourself to endless grief because of
starting stupidly. My experience with computers and programs so far has
been that I can handle the details; its starting and stopping that is
the hard part -- kind of like learning to drive a car.

If you have a better suggestion on how I should get started, I am all
ears -- sincerely.

My goal is to examine and get a feel for the C code for some of the
basic services provided by the kernel -- I don't anticipate learning all
12 million lines of kernel code.  I thought I would look at the major
'struct's and follow the pointers and constants definitions in the
various struct fields from there.

-- 
Regards Bill;
Fedora 9, Gnome 2.22.3
Evo.2.22.3.1, Emacs 22.2.1