summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.rst
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorMasahiro Yamada <masahiroy@kernel.org>2019-12-19 12:51:00 +0100
committerMasahiro Yamada <masahiroy@kernel.org>2019-12-21 16:25:35 +0100
commit28f94a44298c99c0db85539874b62f21d94fcaa7 (patch)
treecd6fbf7499a88942672ffdcc558138f2da223510 /Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.rst
parentkconfig: remove ---help--- from documentation (diff)
downloadlinux-28f94a44298c99c0db85539874b62f21d94fcaa7.tar.xz
linux-28f94a44298c99c0db85539874b62f21d94fcaa7.zip
kbuild: clarify the difference between obj-y and obj-m w.r.t. descending
Kbuild descends into a directory by either 'y' or 'm', but there is an important difference. Kbuild combines the built-in objects into built-in.a in each directory. The built-in.a in the directory visited by obj-y is merged into the built-in.a in the parent directory. This merge happens recursively when Kbuild is ascending back towards the top directory, then built-in objects are linked into vmlinux eventually. This works properly only when the Makefile specifying obj-y is reachable by the chain of obj-y. On the other hand, Kbuild does not take built-in.a from the directory visited by obj-m. This it, all the objects in that directory are supposed to be modular. If Kbuild descends into a directory by obj-m, but the Makefile in the sub-directory specifies obj-y, those objects are just left orphan. The current statement "Kbuild only uses this information to decide that it needs to visit the directory" is misleading. Clarify the difference. Reported-by: Johan Hovold <johan@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Masahiro Yamada <masahiroy@kernel.org> Reviewed-by: Johan Hovold <johan@kernel.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.rst')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.rst16
1 files changed, 13 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.rst b/Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.rst
index b9b50553bfc5..d7e6534a8505 100644
--- a/Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.rst
+++ b/Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.rst
@@ -297,9 +297,19 @@ more details, with real examples.
If CONFIG_EXT2_FS is set to either 'y' (built-in) or 'm' (modular)
the corresponding obj- variable will be set, and kbuild will descend
down in the ext2 directory.
- Kbuild only uses this information to decide that it needs to visit
- the directory, it is the Makefile in the subdirectory that
- specifies what is modular and what is built-in.
+
+ Kbuild uses this information not only to decide that it needs to visit
+ the directory, but also to decide whether or not to link objects from
+ the directory into vmlinux.
+
+ When Kbuild descends into the directory with 'y', all built-in objects
+ from that directory are combined into the built-in.a, which will be
+ eventually linked into vmlinux.
+
+ When Kbuild descends into the directory with 'm', in contrast, nothing
+ from that directory will be linked into vmlinux. If the Makefile in
+ that directory specifies obj-y, those objects will be left orphan.
+ It is very likely a bug of the Makefile or of dependencies in Kconfig.
It is good practice to use a `CONFIG_` variable when assigning directory
names. This allows kbuild to totally skip the directory if the