[Ocfs2-users] ocfs2 custom builds

[Mark Fasheh]

On Thu, Jul 19, 2007 at 10:38:17AM -0700, Sunil Mushran wrote:
> Randy Ramsdell wrote:
> >Ok, you already do that correct? Why prevent end users from compiling
> >your source on the later kernels ( the ones that are compatible). From
> >my original post, I was referring to the fact that it says we will not
> >be able to compile the source on kernels it is compatible with.
> >  
> Because it may not build.

In fact, I'll add to that. You might be able to get it to build. However, it
may not run completely as expected. Some patches just change things like
locking expectations for a function, or return values. So applying them to
your ocfs2 1.2 tree but running it on a kernel earlier than the one that
made those changes could be harmful. If you're not very careful with
reviewing the patches applied _and_ the changes to the kernel from where you
got that patch, you could wind up with something that crashes unexpectedly,
silently corrupts data, or hangs.

Again, none of this is to say that ocfs2 1.2 could never ever be made to
compile against a later kernel. My only point is that it's a much more
involved process than you seem to imply and we simply don't have the
resources to do that.

The bottom line:

Just because it builds, doesn't mean it'll run as well as expected. To test
and verify the latter is much much more work than simply making gcc not
throw an error.
	--Mark

--
Mark Fasheh
Senior Software Developer, Oracle
mark.fasheh at oracle.com