Re: [PATCH] framework for building modules externally

[phcoder <phcoder@gmail.com>]

Robert Millan wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 05, 2008 at 07:57:38AM +0100, Christian Franke wrote:
>> Alternative: Export a symbol describing the ABI version in kernel 
>> ("grub_abi_3_14").
> 
> That requires more bytes than a 32-bit integer.
You export grub_abi anyway. _3_14 is 4 bytes instead of 4 but saves. 
grub_abi_* can be a fictive variable by adding something like
       {"grub_abi_<..>", 0},
to gensymlist.sh.in

> 
>> Access this symbol in each module (this can be hidden 
>> in GRUB_MOD_INIT).
> 
> And this adds code in every module, but for non-external modules we already
> have reassurance that their abi is consistent (users should never bypass
> grub-install;  if they do, it's likely going to break for them anyway).
> 
> I understand there's a minor benefit for programmers of external modules,
> but both things are at the expense of extra size to kernel and core.img
> modules.  External modules will only provide non-essential functionality, so
> it's not a problem they have to check the ABI IMHO.
> 


-- 

Regards
Vladimir 'phcoder' Serbinenko