[Buildroot] Project layout : where to put the .config files

[Sagaert Johan]

Hi

Besides .config ,I think it could be good to also save the kernel .config and the .config files of busybox and uclibc when doing a
make savedefconfig.
Therefore I always keep the kernel, busybox and uclibc config files in my board directory and use the the path to these my buildroot
config files.

Regards Johan

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: buildroot-bounces at busybox.net [mailto:buildroot-bounces at busybox.net] Namens Thomas De Schampheleire
Verzonden: donderdag 30 januari 2014 10:59
Aan: Jeremy Rosen
CC: buildroot
Onderwerp: Re: [Buildroot] Project layout : where to put the .config files

On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 10:53 AM, Jeremy Rosen <jeremy.rosen at openwide.fr> wrote:
> Hello everybody
>
> Buildroot is currently in the process of cleanly separating files that 
> are generated by buildroot and are throwaway files (in the output 
> directory) from files that are configuration files (the BR2_EXTERNAL 
> directory)
>
> However the .config files used by buildroot and other kconfig enabled 
> software are not dealt with in a way that is consistant.
>
> .config is the main buildroot configuration file. This is, more than 
> anything else "the project." It is the file we want to keep in git, 
> share within a software project, be warned in case of conflict. 
> However it is currently savedin the output directory.
>
> I am sending this mail to understand how the community see this file, 
> if there is something that needs to be changed to follow the new 
> separation and see what I can do to get this going.
>
> (I will focus only in the buildroot .config file, the kernel, busybox 
> and uclibc ones can be worked out after that)
>
> so, I have been looking around and there are a couple of approches I 
> can think of...
>
>
> * keep the current approch
>
> .config is considered a throw away file, it is logical that it is in 
> output/ and it is normal that it is destroyed on a regular basis.
>
> I don't like this too much because, for a final product, it is the 
> most important file, and a file that needs to be kept in git. I don't 
> think it is very logical to have such an important file be a hidden 
> file and be in a directory that is meant to be removed.
>
> * keep the file as $(CONFIG_DIR)/.config, but document that CONFIG_DIR 
> can be overridden
>
> This keeps the file as a hidden file, but it allows us to move it out 
> of the output directory. Maybe CONFIG_DIR should default to 
> BR2_EXTERNAL instead of output/ (with some backward compatibility 
> layer)
>
> * allow to override the configuration file with env variables
>
> Basically allow overriding BUILDROOT_CONFIG from the command line. 
> This would solve all the problems I have but I am not sure it follows 
> the buildroot philosophy, thus the long mail.
>
>
>
> This could be a subject for the buildroot days. If other people are 
> interested I can add it to the list of topics...
>
>
> (note that I tried moving the kernel/busybox .config and it's more 
> tricky than the buildroot one... maybe we need a generic 
> infrastructure for kconfig enabled packages...)
>
>

I find it a strange strategy to put .config in git: this is why we have the configs/ directory, and a target 'make savedefconfig' to
store the .config configuration in a defconfig file. If you don't like defconfigs, you can still copy .config directly in the
configs/ subdirectory.

Best regards,
Thomas
_______________________________________________
buildroot mailing list
buildroot at busybox.net
http://lists.busybox.net/mailman/listinfo/buildroot