Re: [kbuild-devel] Get rid of shell based Config.in parsers?

Peter Samuelson (peter@cadcamlab.org)
Wed, 14 Aug 2002 17:21:31 -0500


[Sam Ravnborg]
> Where comes the requirement that we shall keep the existing shell
> based config parsers?

I don't make that argument - mconfig is the superior solution by far -
but it is certainly the path of least resistance.

As pertains to CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL and " (EXPERIMENTAL)", it *is*
possible to add such a feature to the shell-based parsers by changing
the syntax slightly - specifically to lose the '$' on dependencies.

Changing the syntax *does* have ramifications when it means adapting
three separate parsers, but it can be done.

> Remembering the CML2 war there were no serious objections about
> shifting away from shell based parsers (but certainly a lot about
> the alternative selected).

It would have been a big change and a big flag day, and among other
problems, the rulebase conversion issue was handled wrong. Eric
refused to start from a 1-1 equivalent rulebase, preferring to tweak
the rulebase as he went along - partly just to fix bugs, partly to
show off his new capabilities. Unfortunately, without the
apples-to-apples comparison, many people distrusted the new system,
superior though it was in many ways.

This is the primary lesson to be learned from CML2. Anyone trying to
redesign a subsystem such as the kernel config system needs to keep it
in mind. (Yes, I know from the rest of your message that you learned
it.)

Peter
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