[Buildroot] [PATCH 5/5 v5] boot/systemd-boot: new package

[Thomas Petazzoni <thomas.petazzoni@bootlin.com>]

Hello,

Thanks for working on this!

On Wed, 26 Dec 2018 09:52:30 +0100, Yann E. MORIN wrote:
> From: James Hilliard <james.hilliard1@gmail.com>
> 
> systemd-boot is the integration of gummiboot into systemd, and gummiboot
> is no longer maintained [0]. However, it is still interesting to use it
> as a simple, stand-alone bootloader.
> 
> Since systemd-boot is really part of systemd, when systemd is enabled
> (as an init system), we rely on it to build the boot blobs, and
> systemd-boot (this package) is not available.
> 
> Now, when systemd is not enabled, systemd-boot (this package) will
> actually build the boot blobs, and only that. No userspace tool is
> built.
> 
> To avoid duplication, we just symlink the systemd patches as-is. We just
> need to add a specific patch, that just relaxes the dependency checks,
> since we're only interested in building the boot blobs.
> 
> [0] https://cgit.freedesktop.org/gummiboot/commit/?id=55df1539c9d330732e88bd196afee386db6e4a1d
> 
> Signed-off-by: James Hilliard <james.hilliard1@gmail.com>

Do we have a serious valid use-case for wanting to use systemd-boot
without systemd? This adds a fair bit of complexity, so I'd like to be
sure of what we're doing here.

An example of the complexity is with the symlinks to the patches. Every
time a patch is added/removed in package/systemd/, one should remember
to adjust the symlinks in boot/systemd-boot/. This is something that
can very easily be missed.

So it would be good to make sure we have a really solid use-case for
adding this complexity.

Best regards,

Thomas
-- 
Thomas Petazzoni, CTO, Bootlin
Embedded Linux and Kernel engineering
https://bootlin.com