build.conf

General description

build.conf is ThinStation’s basic setup file in which you define which hardware drivers, programs and features will be included in boot images (generated by running ./build).

Initially build.conf is a symbolic link to build.conf.example. Thus we recommend

rm build.conf
cp build.conf.example build.conf

before you start.

The file itself is verbosely commented so don’t hesitate to directly dive into the source before reading this page.

Syntax

Anything after a # is a comment. You “deactivate” whole lines by putting a # in front of them and “reactivate” them by removing the # again. Empty lines are also allowed.

Apart from the above build.conf consists of lines containing exactly one of the following keywords (“directives”)

• machine
• firmware
• module
• package

followed by (any amount of) whitespace and a keyword specific string (value). The param keyword is also valid, but it needs to be followed by a key value pair of strings.

Content

Although you can reorder all lines arbitrarily it is advisable to stick to the given order of topics:

1. machine profiles
2. support for wireless communication
3. filesystem support
4. system level software
5. X.org drivers
6. localization
7. user facing applications
8. window managers and utilities
9. miscellaneous services
10. fonts and icons
11. parameters

ThinStation uses and incorporates many OSS applications and even includes installers for some proprietary applications. Make sure not to include too many fonts in your build. Also Firefox and Java are extremely RAM demanding.