Re: [PATCH 15/20] host/rootfs: Use real less, not BusyBox less

[Demi Marie Obenour <demiobenour@gmail.com>]

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On 9/19/25 14:45, Alyssa Ross wrote:
> Demi Marie Obenour <demiobenour@gmail.com> writes:
> 
>> On 9/8/25 05:25, Alyssa Ross wrote:
>>> Demi Marie Obenour <demiobenour@gmail.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> The version of less in BusyBox cannot handle horizontal scrolling, so it
>>>> is much less useful for debugging than less(1).  As long as it less is
>>>> needed, it is better to have a more useful version.
>>>>
>>>> Signed-off-by: Demi Marie Obenour <demiobenour@gmail.com>
>>>
>>> Is it needed?
>>
>> When I was debugging, I kept getting frustrated with limitations
>> of Busybox less.  This patch helped me quite a bit, so yes, I think
>> it is needed.
> 
> What I mean is: is less needed at all?  (I was referring to you saying
> "as long as less is needed".)
> 
> So far I haven't added tools that are only useful for debugging to the
> image (although the core dump handler is an exception).  I frequently
> use strace, for example, but I don't think it really belongs as part of
> the system image.  less is only really present at all because it snuck
> is as part of busybox.  I also don't want to have images used for
> development to differ from the real ones, because then wee can miss
> stuff in testing more easily.  So here's an idea: what if we attach an
> extra block device in "make run" that includes some debugging tools, and
> then that can easily be mounted to get the extra tools when needed for
> development, while still being able to use a normal build of the
> Spectrum host system?

That's a great idea!  I'll work on it later, though.  In the future
it might make sense to provide a debug build of Spectrum for use by
developers tracking down problems.  That's a task for even further
in the future.
-- 
Sincerely,
Demi Marie Obenour (she/her/hers)

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