[uClibc]Building uClibc for a stand-alone system.

[jeand at telusplanet.net]

> So, I've built a system based entirely on uClibc. It does not have a
> compiler/binutils, but it does have the entire set of GNU {file,sh,
> text,find,diff}utils, bash, util-linux, mutt, tcpdump, nmap, TinyX,
> perl, elvis, xv, ImageMagick and much more. 
> 
>

That's a good list of stuff.  I won't be needing TinyX or anything like that as 
I'm trying to build some SVGAlib stuff.  But that's promising.

> So this little list should give you an idea of how much you can do (i.e.
> alot). If you use the toolchain instead of the wrappers, there are few
> limits on what you can compile (C++ support in the wrappers is rather
> flakey). Here are the rubs:
> 
> FWIW, I wouldn't use uClibc for a desktop. There's too much heartache
> involved. I love small applications (my background is in DOS assembler),
> but with RAM going $40 for 128MB, you can't justify the time for the
> benefits. Maybe in 6 months it will be a different story. 
> 

It's not for a desktop.  Well, it is, but not really. 8-)  We're building a 
smart appliance and before we spend money on support contracts for embedded 
linux, I'm investigating whether we (my partners and I) have the know-how to do 
this on our own.  Right now, I'm trying to recreate the appliance environment 
on my desktop (actually, my laptop), so we can get an idea of what can be done 
and what can't be done.

My initial hope was to just build an LFS system, substituting uClibc for 
glibc.  I suspect that I can still do that, but I'm going to need to get some 
static debugging tools built to find out why I'm getting that SEGFAULT.

I need the development stuff on the system at first because I'll need to build 
all the real stuff that we're interested in.  And, strangely enough, I think 
the difficulty in building a uClibc system from scratch is less so than mucking 
about with a cross-compiler (i.e. the toolchain).

I'm just hoping that someone has hints for when I get stuck.  I take it that 
you didn't actually build a uClibc-gcc.  So you used the toolchain to compile 
all of your required packages?  Why'd you choose to do that instead of 
the "normal" LFS route?

Jean