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1 | <!--#include file="header.html" --> | ||
2 | |||
3 | |||
4 | <h3>Frequently Asked Questions</h3> | ||
5 | |||
6 | This is a collection of some of the more frequently asked questions | ||
7 | about BusyBox. Some of the questions even have answers. If you | ||
8 | have additions to this FAQ document, we would love to add them, | ||
9 | |||
10 | <ol> | ||
11 | <li><a href="#kernel">Which Linux kernel versions are supported?</a> | ||
12 | <li><a href="#arch">Which architectures does BusyBox run on?</a> | ||
13 | <li><a href="#libc">Which C libraries are supported?</a> | ||
14 | <li><a href="#commercial">Can I include BusyBox as part of the software on my device?</a> | ||
15 | <li><a href="#bugs">I think I found a bug in BusyBox! What should I do?!</a> | ||
16 | <li><a href="#job_control">Why do I keep getting "sh: can't access tty; job control | ||
17 | turned off" errors? Why doesn't Control-C work within my shell?</a> | ||
18 | <li><a href="#demanding">I demand that you to add <favorite feature> right now! How come | ||
19 | you don't answer all my questions on the mailing list instantly? I demand | ||
20 | that you help me with all of my problems <em>Right Now</em>!</a> | ||
21 | <li><a href="#getting_started">How can I get started using BusyBox?</a> | ||
22 | <li><a href="#helpme">I need help with BusyBox! What should I do?</a> | ||
23 | <li><a href="#contracts">I need you to add <favorite feature>! Are the BusyBox developers willing to | ||
24 | be paid in order to fix bugs or add in <favorite feature>? Are you willing to provide | ||
25 | support contracts?</a> | ||
26 | <li><a href="#support">I think you guys are great and I want to help support your work!</a> | ||
27 | |||
28 | |||
29 | </ol> | ||
30 | |||
31 | |||
32 | <hr /> | ||
33 | <p> | ||
34 | <h2><a name="kernel">Which Linux kernel versions are supported?</a></h2> | ||
35 | <p> | ||
36 | |||
37 | |||
38 | Full functionality requires Linux 2.2.x or better. A large fraction of the | ||
39 | code should run on just about anything. While the current code is fairly | ||
40 | Linux specific, it should be fairly easy to port the majority of the code | ||
41 | to support, say, FreeBSD or Solaris, or Mac OS X, or even Windows (if you | ||
42 | are into that sort of thing). | ||
43 | |||
44 | |||
45 | <hr /> | ||
46 | <p> | ||
47 | <h2><a name="arch">Which architectures does BusyBox run on?</a></h2> | ||
48 | <p> | ||
49 | |||
50 | |||
51 | BusyBox in general will build on any architecture supported by gcc. | ||
52 | Kernel module loading for 2.2 and 2.4 Linux kernels is currently | ||
53 | limited to ARM, CRIS, H8/300, x86, ia64, x86_64, m68k, MIPS, PowerPC, | ||
54 | S390, SH3/4/5, Sparc, v850e, and x86_64 for 2.4.x kernels. | ||
55 | |||
56 | With 2.6.x kernels, module loading support should work on all architectures. | ||
57 | |||
58 | |||
59 | <hr /> | ||
60 | <p> | ||
61 | <h2><a name="libc">Which C libraries are supported?</a></h2> | ||
62 | <p> | ||
63 | |||
64 | |||
65 | uClibc and glibc are supported. People have been looking at newlib and | ||
66 | dietlibc, but they are currently considered unsupported, untested, or | ||
67 | worse. Linux-libc5 is no longer supported. If you require a small C | ||
68 | library, you should probably use uClibc. | ||
69 | |||
70 | |||
71 | <hr /> | ||
72 | <p> | ||
73 | <h2><a name="commercial">Can I include BusyBox as part of the software on my device?</h2> | ||
74 | |||
75 | Yes. As long as you <a href="http://busybox.net/license.html">fully comply | ||
76 | with the generous terms of the GPL BusyBox license</a> you can ship BusyBox | ||
77 | as part of the software on your device. | ||
78 | |||
79 | <a href="#support">Please consider sharing some of the money you make.</a> | ||
80 | |||
81 | |||
82 | <hr /> | ||
83 | <p> | ||
84 | <h2><a name="bugs">I think I found a bug in BusyBox! What should I do?</h2> | ||
85 | <p> | ||
86 | |||
87 | If you find a problem with BusyBox, please submit a detailed bug report to | ||
88 | the BusyBox mailing list at <a href="mailto:busybox@mail.busybox.net"> | ||
89 | busybox@mail.busybox.net</a>. Please do not send private email to Erik | ||
90 | (the maintainer of BusyBox) asking for private help unless you are planning | ||
91 | on paying for consulting services. When we answer questions on the BusyBox | ||
92 | mailing list, it helps everyone, while private answers help only you... | ||
93 | |||
94 | <p> | ||
95 | |||
96 | If you find bugs, please submit a detailed bug report to the BusyBox mailing | ||
97 | list at busybox@mail.busybox.net. A well-written bug report should include a | ||
98 | transcript of a shell session that demonstrates the bad behavior and enables | ||
99 | anyone else to duplicate the bug on their own machine. The following is such | ||
100 | an example: | ||
101 | |||
102 | <pre> | ||
103 | To: busybox@mail.busybox.net | ||
104 | From: diligent@testing.linux.org | ||
105 | Subject: /bin/date doesn't work | ||
106 | |||
107 | Package: BusyBox | ||
108 | Version: 1.00 | ||
109 | |||
110 | When I execute BusyBox 'date' it produces unexpected results. | ||
111 | With GNU date I get the following output: | ||
112 | |||
113 | $ date | ||
114 | Fri Oct 8 14:19:41 MDT 2004 | ||
115 | |||
116 | But when I use BusyBox date I get this instead: | ||
117 | |||
118 | $ date | ||
119 | illegal instruction | ||
120 | |||
121 | I am using Debian unstable, kernel version 2.4.27 on a x86 system, | ||
122 | and the latest uClibc from CVS. Thanks for the wonderful program! | ||
123 | |||
124 | -Diligent | ||
125 | </pre> | ||
126 | |||
127 | Note the careful description and use of examples showing not only what BusyBox | ||
128 | does, but also a counter example showing what an equivalent GNU app does. Bug | ||
129 | reports lacking proper detail may never be fixed... Thanks for understanding. | ||
130 | |||
131 | <hr /> | ||
132 | <p> | ||
133 | <h2><a name="job_control">Why do I keep getting "sh: can't access tty; job control | ||
134 | turned off" errors? Why doesn't Control-C work within my shell?</a></h2> | ||
135 | <p> | ||
136 | |||
137 | Job control will be turned off since your shell can not obtain a controlling | ||
138 | terminal. This typically happens when you run your shell on /dev/console. | ||
139 | The kernel will not provide a controlling terminal on the /dev/console | ||
140 | device. Your should run your shell on a normal tty such as tty1 or ttyS0 | ||
141 | and everything will work perfectly. If you <em>REALLY</em> want your shell | ||
142 | to run on /dev/console, then you can hack your kernel (if you are into that | ||
143 | sortof thing) by changing drivers/char/tty_io.c to change the lines where | ||
144 | it sets "noctty = 1;" to instead set it to "0". I recommend you instead | ||
145 | run your shell on a real console... | ||
146 | |||
147 | |||
148 | <hr /> | ||
149 | <p> | ||
150 | <h2><a name="getting_started">How can I get started using BusyBox?</a></h2> | ||
151 | <p> | ||
152 | |||
153 | An easy method to build your own basic BusyBox based system, is to | ||
154 | follow these simple steps: | ||
155 | <ul> | ||
156 | <li> Point your web browser <a href="/cgi-bin/cvsweb/buildroot/">here</a> | ||
157 | <li> Click on "Download tarball" | ||
158 | <li> Unpack the tarball on your Linux system somewhere | ||
159 | <li> run 'make' and configure things to taste. | ||
160 | <li> run 'unset CC'. Some Linux systems (i.e. Gentoo) set 'CC' | ||
161 | in the system environment which messes up cross compiles. | ||
162 | <li> run 'make' | ||
163 | <li> go have lunch, drink a pop, call a friend, play a video game, etc | ||
164 | till it finishes downloading software and compiling things. | ||
165 | <li> You should now have a shiny new BusyBox based system. | ||
166 | </ul> | ||
167 | |||
168 | |||
169 | <hr /> | ||
170 | <p> | ||
171 | <h2><a name="demanding">I demand that you to add <favorite feature> right now! How come | ||
172 | you don't answer all my questions on the mailing list instantly? I demand | ||
173 | that you help me with all of my problems <em>Right Now</em>!</a></h2> | ||
174 | <p> | ||
175 | |||
176 | You have not paid us a single cent and yet you still have the product of | ||
177 | many years of our work. We are not your slaves! We work on BusyBox | ||
178 | because we find it useful and interesting. If you go off flaming us, we | ||
179 | will ignore you. | ||
180 | |||
181 | |||
182 | <hr /> | ||
183 | <p> | ||
184 | <h2><a name="helpme">I need help with BusyBox! What should I do?</a></h2> | ||
185 | <p> | ||
186 | |||
187 | If you find that you need help with BusyBox, you can ask for help on the | ||
188 | BusyBox mailing list at busybox@mail.busybox.net. In addition to the BusyBox | ||
189 | mailing list, Erik (andersee), Manuel (mjn3) and others are known to hang out | ||
190 | on the uClibc IRC channel: #uclibc on irc.freenode.net. | ||
191 | |||
192 | <p> | ||
193 | |||
194 | <b>Please do not send private email to Erik, Manuel, or the other BusyBox | ||
195 | contributors asking for private help unless you are planning on paying for | ||
196 | consulting services.</b> | ||
197 | |||
198 | <p> | ||
199 | |||
200 | When we answer questions on the BusyBox mailing list, it helps everyone | ||
201 | since people with similar problems in the future will be able to get help | ||
202 | by searching the mailing list archives. Private help is reserved as a paid | ||
203 | service. If you need to use private communication, or if you are serious | ||
204 | about getting timely assistance with BusyBox, you should seriously consider | ||
205 | paying for consulting services. | ||
206 | |||
207 | <p> | ||
208 | |||
209 | |||
210 | |||
211 | <hr /> | ||
212 | <p> | ||
213 | <h2><a name="contracts">I need you to add <favorite feature>! Are the BusyBox | ||
214 | developers willing to be paid in order to fix bugs or add in <favorite feature>? | ||
215 | Are you willing to provide support contracts?</a></h2> | ||
216 | <p> | ||
217 | |||
218 | Sure! Now you have our attention! What you should do is contact <a | ||
219 | href="mailto:andersen@codepoet.org">Erik Andersen</a> of <a | ||
220 | href="http://codepoet-consulting.com/">CodePoet Consulting</a> to bid | ||
221 | on your project. If Erik is too busy to personally add your feature, there | ||
222 | are many other active BusyBox contributors who will almost certainly be able | ||
223 | to help you out. Erik can contact them privatly, and may even let you to | ||
224 | post your request for services on the mailing list. | ||
225 | |||
226 | |||
227 | <hr /> | ||
228 | <p> | ||
229 | <h2><a name="support">I think you guys are great and I want to help support your work!</a></h2> | ||
230 | <p> | ||
231 | |||
232 | Wow, that would be great! Erik personally pays for all the bandwidth, and | ||
233 | all servers used for busybox.net out of his own pocket. If you would like | ||
234 | to make a donation to help support BusyBox, and/or request features, you | ||
235 | can click here: | ||
236 | |||
237 | <!-- Begin PayPal Logo --> | ||
238 | <center> | ||
239 | <form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"> | ||
240 | <input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick"> | ||
241 | <input type="hidden" name="business" value="andersen@codepoet.org"> | ||
242 | <input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Support BusyBox"> | ||
243 | <input type="hidden" name="image_url" value="http://codepoet-consulting.com/images/codepoet.png"> | ||
244 | <input type="hidden" name="no_shipping" value="1"> | ||
245 | <input type="image" src="images/donate.png" name="submit" alt="Make donation using PayPal"> | ||
246 | </form> | ||
247 | </center> | ||
248 | <!-- End PayPal Logo --> | ||
249 | |||
250 | If you prefer to contact Erik directly to make a donation, donate hardware, | ||
251 | request support, etc, you can contact | ||
252 | <a href="http://codepoet-consulting.com/">CodePoet Consulting</a> here. | ||
253 | CodePoet Consulting can accept both Visa and MasterCard for those that do not | ||
254 | trust PayPal... | ||
255 | |||
256 | <hr /> | ||
257 | <p> | ||
258 | <h2><a name="optimize">I want to make busybox even smaller, how do I go about it?</a></h2> | ||
259 | <p> | ||
260 | To conserve bytes it's good to know where they're being used, and the | ||
261 | size of the final executable isn't always a reliable indicator of | ||
262 | the size of the components (since various structures are rounded up, | ||
263 | so a small change may not even be visible by itself, but many small | ||
264 | savings add up). | ||
265 | </p> | ||
266 | <p> | ||
267 | To examine a busybox binary with an eye to saving bytes, build an | ||
268 | optimized debug version and run the "nm" command against it, like so: | ||
269 | </p> | ||
270 | <p> | ||
271 | make clean && make STRIPCMD=/bin/true && nm --size-sort busybox | ||
272 | </p> | ||
273 | <p> | ||
274 | This gives a list of symbols and the amount of space allocated for | ||
275 | each one, sorted by size. (Note: do not enable CONFIG_DEBUG for this, | ||
276 | as that disables compiler optimization which is great for running gdb | ||
277 | but misleading when trying to figure out how much space each component | ||
278 | is really using under normal circumstances.) | ||
279 | </p> | ||
280 | <hr /> | ||
281 | |||
282 | |||
283 | |||
284 | <br> | ||
285 | <br> | ||
286 | <br> | ||
287 | |||
288 | <!--#include file="footer.html" --> | ||
289 | |||