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| <h3>Frequently Asked Questions</h3> |
| |
| This is a collection of some of the more frequently asked questions |
| about BusyBox. Some of the questions even have answers. If you |
| have additions to this FAQ document, we would love to add them, |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li><a href="#kernel">Which Linux kernel versions are supported?</a> |
| <li><a href="#arch">Which architectures does BusyBox run on?</a> |
| <li><a href="#libc">Which C libraries are supported?</a> |
| <li><a href="#commercial">Can I include BusyBox as part of the software on my device?</a> |
| <li><a href="#bugs">I think I found a bug in BusyBox! What should I do?!</a> |
| <li><a href="#job_control">Why do I keep getting "sh: can't access tty; job control |
| turned off" errors? Why doesn't Control-C work within my shell?</a> |
| <li><a href="#demanding">I demand that you to add <favorite feature> right now! How come |
| you don't answer all my questions on the mailing list instantly? I demand |
| that you help me with all of my problems <em>Right Now</em>!</a> |
| <li><a href="#getting_started">How can I get started using BusyBox?</a> |
| <li><a href="#helpme">I need help with BusyBox! What should I do?</a> |
| <li><a href="#contracts">I need you to add <favorite feature>! Are the BusyBox developers willing to |
| be paid in order to fix bugs or add in <favorite feature>? Are you willing to provide |
| support contracts?</a> |
| <li><a href="#support">I think you guys are great and I want to help support your work!</a> |
| |
| |
| </ol> |
| |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="kernel">Which Linux kernel versions are supported?</a></h2> |
| <p> |
| |
| |
| Full functionality requires Linux 2.2.x or better. A large fraction of the |
| code should run on just about anything. While the current code is fairly |
| Linux specific, it should be fairly easy to port the majority of the code |
| to support, say, FreeBSD or Solaris, or Mac OS X, or even Windows (if you |
| are into that sort of thing). |
| |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="arch">Which architectures does BusyBox run on?</a></h2> |
| <p> |
| |
| |
| BusyBox in general will build on any architecture supported by gcc. |
| Kernel module loading for 2.2 and 2.4 Linux kernels is currently |
| limited to ARM, CRIS, H8/300, x86, ia64, x86_64, m68k, MIPS, PowerPC, |
| S390, SH3/4/5, Sparc, v850e, and x86_64 for 2.4.x kernels. |
| |
| With 2.6.x kernels, module loading support should work on all architectures. |
| |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="libc">Which C libraries are supported?</a></h2> |
| <p> |
| |
| |
| uClibc and glibc are supported. People have been looking at newlib and |
| dietlibc, but they are currently considered unsupported, untested, or |
| worse. Linux-libc5 is no longer supported. If you require a small C |
| library, you should probably use uClibc. |
| |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="commercial">Can I include BusyBox as part of the software on my device?</h2> |
| |
| Yes. As long as you <a href="http://busybox.net/license.html">fully comply |
| with the generous terms of the GPL BusyBox license</a> you can ship BusyBox |
| as part of the software on your device. |
| |
| <a href="#support">Please consider sharing some of the money you make.</a> |
| |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="bugs">I think I found a bug in BusyBox! What should I do?</h2> |
| <p> |
| |
| If you find a problem with BusyBox, please submit a detailed bug report to |
| the BusyBox mailing list at <a href="mailto:busybox@mail.busybox.net"> |
| busybox@mail.busybox.net</a>. Please do not send private email to Erik |
| (the maintainer of BusyBox) asking for private help unless you are planning |
| on paying for consulting services. When we answer questions on the BusyBox |
| mailing list, it helps everyone, while private answers help only you... |
| |
| <p> |
| |
| If you find bugs, please submit a detailed bug report to the BusyBox mailing |
| list at busybox@mail.busybox.net. A well-written bug report should include a |
| transcript of a shell session that demonstrates the bad behavior and enables |
| anyone else to duplicate the bug on their own machine. The following is such |
| an example: |
| |
| <pre> |
| To: busybox@mail.busybox.net |
| From: diligent@testing.linux.org |
| Subject: /bin/date doesn't work |
| |
| Package: BusyBox |
| Version: 1.00 |
| |
| When I execute BusyBox 'date' it produces unexpected results. |
| With GNU date I get the following output: |
| |
| $ date |
| Fri Oct 8 14:19:41 MDT 2004 |
| |
| But when I use BusyBox date I get this instead: |
| |
| $ date |
| illegal instruction |
| |
| I am using Debian unstable, kernel version 2.4.27 on a x86 system, |
| and the latest uClibc from CVS. Thanks for the wonderful program! |
| |
| -Diligent |
| </pre> |
| |
| Note the careful description and use of examples showing not only what BusyBox |
| does, but also a counter example showing what an equivalent GNU app does. Bug |
| reports lacking proper detail may never be fixed... Thanks for understanding. |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="job_control">Why do I keep getting "sh: can't access tty; job control |
| turned off" errors? Why doesn't Control-C work within my shell?</a></h2> |
| <p> |
| |
| Job control will be turned off since your shell can not obtain a controlling |
| terminal. This typically happens when you run your shell on /dev/console. |
| The kernel will not provide a controlling terminal on the /dev/console |
| device. Your should run your shell on a normal tty such as tty1 or ttyS0 |
| and everything will work perfectly. If you <em>REALLY</em> want your shell |
| to run on /dev/console, then you can hack your kernel (if you are into that |
| sortof thing) by changing drivers/char/tty_io.c to change the lines where |
| it sets "noctty = 1;" to instead set it to "0". I recommend you instead |
| run your shell on a real console... |
| |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="getting_started">How can I get started using BusyBox?</a></h2> |
| <p> |
| |
| An easy method to build your own basic BusyBox based system, is to |
| follow these simple steps: |
| <ul> |
| <li> Point your web browser <a href="/cgi-bin/cvsweb/buildroot/">here</a> |
| <li> Click on "Download tarball" |
| <li> Unpack the tarball on your Linux system somewhere |
| <li> run 'make' and configure things to taste. |
| <li> run 'unset CC'. Some Linux systems (i.e. Gentoo) set 'CC' |
| in the system environment which messes up cross compiles. |
| <li> run 'make' |
| <li> go have lunch, drink a pop, call a friend, play a video game, etc |
| till it finishes downloading software and compiling things. |
| <li> You should now have a shiny new BusyBox based system. |
| </ul> |
| |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="demanding">I demand that you to add <favorite feature> right now! How come |
| you don't answer all my questions on the mailing list instantly? I demand |
| that you help me with all of my problems <em>Right Now</em>!</a></h2> |
| <p> |
| |
| You have not paid us a single cent and yet you still have the product of |
| many years of our work. We are not your slaves! We work on BusyBox |
| because we find it useful and interesting. If you go off flaming us, we |
| will ignore you. |
| |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="helpme">I need help with BusyBox! What should I do?</a></h2> |
| <p> |
| |
| If you find that you need help with BusyBox, you can ask for help on the |
| BusyBox mailing list at busybox@mail.busybox.net. In addition to the BusyBox |
| mailing list, Erik (andersee), Manuel (mjn3) and others are known to hang out |
| on the uClibc IRC channel: #uclibc on irc.freenode.net. |
| |
| <p> |
| |
| <b>Please do not send private email to Erik, Manuel, or the other BusyBox |
| contributors asking for private help unless you are planning on paying for |
| consulting services.</b> |
| |
| <p> |
| |
| When we answer questions on the BusyBox mailing list, it helps everyone |
| since people with similar problems in the future will be able to get help |
| by searching the mailing list archives. Private help is reserved as a paid |
| service. If you need to use private communication, or if you are serious |
| about getting timely assistance with BusyBox, you should seriously consider |
| paying for consulting services. |
| |
| <p> |
| |
| |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="contracts">I need you to add <favorite feature>! Are the BusyBox |
| developers willing to be paid in order to fix bugs or add in <favorite feature>? |
| Are you willing to provide support contracts?</a></h2> |
| <p> |
| |
| Sure! Now you have our attention! What you should do is contact <a |
| href="mailto:andersen@codepoet.org">Erik Andersen</a> of <a |
| href="http://codepoet-consulting.com/">CodePoet Consulting</a> to bid |
| on your project. If Erik is too busy to personally add your feature, there |
| are many other active BusyBox contributors who will almost certainly be able |
| to help you out. Erik can contact them privately, and may even let you to |
| post your request for services on the mailing list. |
| |
| |
| <hr /> |
| <p> |
| <h2><a name="support">I think you guys are great and I want to help support your work!</a></h2> |
| <p> |
| |
| Wow, that would be great! Erik personally pays for all the bandwidth, and |
| all servers used for busybox.net out of his own pocket. If you would like |
| to make a donation to help support BusyBox, and/or request features, you |
| can click here: |
| |
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| If you prefer to contact Erik directly to make a donation, donate hardware, |
| request support, etc, you can contact |
| <a href="http://codepoet-consulting.com/">CodePoet Consulting</a> here. |
| CodePoet Consulting can accept both Visa and MasterCard for those that do not |
| trust PayPal... |
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