# gernel **Repository Path**: mirrors_chromium_gitlab_gnome/gernel ## Basic Information - **Project Name**: gernel - **Description**: No description available - **Primary Language**: Unknown - **License**: GPL-2.0 - **Default Branch**: master - **Homepage**: None - **GVP Project**: No ## Statistics - **Stars**: 0 - **Forks**: 0 - **Created**: 2021-08-09 - **Last Updated**: 2025-10-12 ## Categories & Tags **Categories**: Uncategorized **Tags**: None ## README The Gernel - A Configuration Frontend for the Linux Kernel (this file written by Fritz Jetzek ) *Disclaimer a) I am aware of the nomenclature for the GNU operating system: the proper name for the most common incarnation of this OS is "GNU/Linux". However, in the following I will sometimes write about "Linux" since most of the tool described here is related to the actual Linux kernel. b) This document (and possibly other parts of this source tree) may contain mistakes in using the English language as I am not a native English speaker. If you find errors and can spare the time, please inform me about them. *Description The Gernel is intended to replace the current configuration tool 'make xconfig', which is the current standard for configuring a kernel using X. It is written in C, making use of the GTK+ library (www.gtk.org) and the GNOME environment (www.gnome.org). Linux kernel configuration tools make up one of the last holes in the GNU/Linux desktop that need to be closed. Tools like 'make config', 'make menuconfig' and 'make xconfig' are in widespread use yet only provide a minimum set of features to the user; they provide no way of searching for variables or their descriptions, and they are still a bit cumbersome to use for the novice user - whom GNU/Linux claims to attract. Furthermore, 'make xconfig' is dead code no longer being supported (see its source code for the relevant message). The Gernel tries to provide an intuitive interface to view and edit kernel variable settings; it displays dependencies among variables in boolean expression trees, and organizes variable help pages in a notebook widget, thereby avoiding the user's desktop being cluttered with windows. Homepage: www.buggerz.com/index.done.gernel.html Download: www.buggerz.com/gernel CVS : cvs.gnome.org/bonsai/rview.cgi?cvsroot=/cvs/gnome&dir=gernel *Status This Version is 0.8.3. It has the following features: -You can specify the kernel source directory (e.g. /usr/src/linux) on the commandline; it is possible to pass multiple paths which will all be parsed in order (A new window will be opened for each kernel source). -the config files (which are spread over the kernel source tree) are parsed and their outcome listed into the main Gernel window; dependencies among variables are taken care for: if a variable's dependency is not matched, it will appear insensitizes; it re-sensitizes when the user changes its dependency correctly. to my knowledge, all language features of Config Language (/Documentation/kbuild/config-language.txt) are implemented. -the machine type is correctly recognized; only relevant config files are read. -previously saved configuration files are detected and parsed (like .config.save). -as the user clicks on various variables, a history/future navigation is being maintained by the program; the user can move to variables he visited earlier by making use of the back button in the toolbar (likewise for the forward button). Instead of clicking through the tree, it is possible to use the prev/up etc. buttons. All of these buttons (as well as their counterparts in the top menu) are sensitized appropriately all the time. -variables can be searched for with the "find..."-dialog from the toolbar/ menubar. Currently, direct matches for variable names or variable descriptions are supported. -as the user clicks on variables, help pages will appear in the notebook. they show the help text of the variable (if available), the variables that need to be set as prerequisites, and the variables that depend on this variable. -via the "File/Load..." button one can load another kernel source tree into the main window; likewise, "File/Load Template..." will let the user load a different variable template (a configuration file like .config.save that he may have saved with other parsers/ on different machines) -View/Overview will get back to the main variable tree if it is not visible (because the user may be watching help pages). View/Reload will reload the complete kernel source tree *Roadmap 0.8.1 to 0.9.0 will see various new features, such as an improved search dialog, a property dialog and some internal changes (parser optimization). Version 0.9 will be the first release to support saving of configuration data as well as a root-password prompt dialog. 0.9.1 to 1.0.0 feature freeze. No new features will appear but bugs fixed and documentation written. Post-1.0.0 Internal parsing will be restructured to allow other kernels to be parsed, such as the BSD kernels and CML2, the new linux kernel configuration scheme (www.tuxedo.org/~esr/kbuild). This will probably achieved by making the application scriptable using Guile (www.glug.org) so developpers only have to write new scripts for their kernels that the Gernel can parse directly (they won't have to dig through the Gernel's internals) *Author The original idea of this program is from Aleksander Koleski <6koleski@informatik.uni-hamburg.de>. The Gernel logo was drawn by Cyria Arweiler with the Gimp (www.gimp.org) and some graphic expertise. The actual code was written and is developped and maintained by Fritz Jetzek . Lots of translations were provided by various people; they are mentioned in the ChangeLog and/or in the respective translation files in the po/ directory.