[yocto] The term Package as used in the YP docs
Paul Eggleton
paul.eggleton at linux.intel.com
Fri Sep 28 11:23:28 PDT 2012
Hi Scott,
On Friday 28 September 2012 18:14:31 Rifenbark, Scott M wrote:
> * Package: In the context of the Yocto Project, this term refers to
> the packaged output from a baked recipe. A package is generally the
> compiled binaries produced from the recipe's sources. You 'bake' something
> by running it through BitBake.
>
> It is worth noting that the term "package" can, in general, have subtle
> meanings. For example, the packages refered to in the "The
> Packages<http://www.yoctoproject.org/docs/1.3/yocto-project-qs/yocto-projec
> t-qs.html#packages>" section are compiled binaries that when installed add
> functionality to your Linux distribution.
The thing is, this is actually the same meaning, we're just talking about
packages for your host distribution rather than packages for the custom distro
you're building - the concept is the same. If we do need to clarify it I would
suggest using the term "host package" or something very similar for packages
to be installed as pre-requisites on the host system.
> Another point worth noting is that historically within the Yocto Project,
> recipes were referred to as packages - thus, the existence of several
> BitBake variables that are seemingly mis-named, (e.g.
> PR<http://www.yoctoproject.org/docs/1.3/poky-ref-manual/poky-ref-manual.htm
> l#var-PR>,
> PRINC<http://www.yoctoproject.org/docs/1.3/poky-ref-manual/poky-ref-manual.
> html#var-PRINC>,
> PV<http://www.yoctoproject.org/docs/1.3/poky-ref-manual/poky-ref-manual.htm
> l#var-PV>, and
> PE<http://www.yoctoproject.org/docs/1.3/poky-ref-manual/poky-ref-manual.htm
> l#var-PE>).
I have to say, whilst this is an interesting point of history, I'm not sure
anyone really needs to know this in the manual, particularly if we've replaced
all historical use of the word "package" when we mean "recipe" (as I think we
now have for this release).
Cheers,
Paul
--
Paul Eggleton
Intel Open Source Technology Centre
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