Re: IPTables 1.3.x fails on RaQ2

[Kumba <kumba@gentoo.org>]

Jim Gifford wrote:
> I just don't understand why iptables needs that file at all, I can't 
> find anything in it that uses it. I'm going to search again, and I will 
> post my results once I figure it out.

iptables doesn't need it.  It's one of those funky #include chains.  include A 
includes B which includes C which includes Q and so on until it tries 
including a file it can't find.  This is because there are a series of mach-* 
machine subdirs in include/asm-mips that each contain headers specific to a 
particular machine type (like spaces.h, among other things).  I haven't delved 
into the specifics (someone else here can explain it more), but when the 
kernel builds, based upon the configuration of the kernel, it knows which 
include/asm-mips/mach-* directory to look in to snag the headers it needs. 
Userland doesn't know this, so for headers used in userland, you need to patch 
things abit.  Otherwise, they break.

http://tinyurl.com/5grah  <-- appCompat patch used in Gentoo's linux-headers 
2.6.10 ebuild.  It lacks mips-specific bits, but you can look at how x86 
handles some of its include/asm-i386/mach-* sections for how we're working 
around these issues.  It's all a hack really, until someone either fixes 
userland to never use kernel headers, or the kernel-side finds a way to create 
userland-friendly headers (but I don't see any of this happening anytime soon).


--Kumba

-- 
"Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small 
hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere." 
--Elrond