FS#18570 - [kernel26] add debuginfo

Attached to Project: Arch Linux
Opened by Marc Cousin (cousinm) - Friday, 05 March 2010, 07:55 GMT
Last edited by Tobias Powalowski (tpowa) - Friday, 30 April 2010, 06:40 GMT
Task Type Feature Request
Category Kernel
Status Closed
Assigned To Tobias Powalowski (tpowa)
Thomas Bächler (brain0)
Architecture All
Severity Low
Priority Normal
Reported Version
Due in Version Undecided
Due Date Undecided
Percent Complete 100%
Votes 2
Private No

Details

Description:

Would it be possible to have a kernel with debug symbols ?
I used to rely heavily on systemtap for certain types of debugging, and for now I have to build the kernel myself. I know that systemtap is in aur, but it really is a very usefull tool, and some instrumentation is coming in other programs such as PostgreSQL.

I know that Red Hat and Debian provide separate packages for the debug symbols

Here is the link I used to build the kernel

http://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/SystemTapWithSelfBuiltKernel

Anyway, I don't know if this is something wanted in Arch, I just wanted to submit the idea, as I couldn't find it here.
This task depends upon

Closed by  Tobias Powalowski (tpowa)
Friday, 30 April 2010, 06:40 GMT
Reason for closing:  Won't implement
Comment by Thomas Bächler (brain0) - Friday, 05 March 2010, 18:35 GMT
In kernel26, we try to cover the common use cases as much as we can - this is not a common use case, but rather a corner case. I suspect that including this into kernel26 will bring disadvantages to users that don't need debug symbols (at least kernel size, maybe also speed).

Creating a separate kernel26-debug is lots of maintenance, but not many people will use it.

Unless there will be a large number of requests for such a package, we will probably follow Arch's usual policy: It's something rare, so the users build it for themselves (which you already seem to do).

You might try to convince me otherwise, if you feel any of my above statements is false.
Comment by Marc Cousin (cousinm) - Saturday, 06 March 2010, 15:15 GMT
No, I admit that for now, it's not something a lot of people I know use. Debuginfo is extremely useful for systemtap, which I needed when I noticed its absence from arch.
It's the first thing I've been missing from other distros for now, so I wanted to know if that was a choice or just something not done because no one asked for it before.

Maybe it's time for me to bite the bullet, do an AUR myself and see if anyone is interested :)

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to explain this to me.
Comment by Thomas Bächler (brain0) - Saturday, 06 March 2010, 15:20 GMT
Yes, that's probably a good idea: Put it in AUR and see how many votes it gets.

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