dlkern, the linux kernel downloader
dlkern is better than manual downloading because:
- Automated upgrading via patches (-p flag) significantly reduces
download time for you and load on the kernel servers.
- Specifying your country code (-c flag) distributes load on kernel
servers more efficiently.
- Cryptographic signature verification reduces the chances of you
running a maliciously modified kernel.
Features:
- Determines current versions and URLs of stable, beta, and prepatch
versions of the linux kernel via finger @ftp.kernel.org.
- Downloads via ncftpget or wget.
- Automatic download and verification of kernel signatures.
- Allows specification of 2 letter country code for the kernel mirror system.
- Allows selection of .gz or .bz2 compression.
This program was mentioned in the February 2001 issue of
Linux Journal (issue 82) - a print
magazine.
But WHY?
When I started writing this in 1999, you couldn't just go
to
http://www.kernel.org/ and click a
kernel version and immediately start downloading a tarball (
1999 archive). I like to think
that the effort I put into writing dlkern caused someone to realise the
need for the work that resulted in the very helpful links they have there
today.
Back then you had to ftp in, and burrow through the archive directory
structure. I do believe I got lost a few times. But most of all it was
tedious. I hate tedious.
So I wrote dlkern as a simple script to do my downloading for me. And then
it just kept getting more and more robust until it was actually recommended
in a real print magazine.
Then I abandoned it for 4 years. Then when I dusted it off, much to my
amazement, it still worked. Then I added the patch downloading
ability.
Perhaps some day soon you will be able to run dlkern nightly from cron to
keep your kernel source tree up to date with no interaction required from
you.
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Wed Nov 23 21:39:45 EST 2005