Hi Norman
[...] I guess the intention behind your question is to keep your custom code (you are referring to as "working directory") separate from the upstream Genode repository. I think the best way to achieve that would be to host your custom code in an entirely different repository and keep the Genode source tree clean from your custom code.
That's definitively the way to go! With "working directory" I was referring to the currently checked out branch the upstream genode git repository.
[...] it is possible to create a tar archive with the exact subset of the Genode's source tree needed to exercise the prepare-port procedure. The archive must contain the following:
- The port-description files along with their hash files (as printed by the command above)
- The port tools (located at 'genode/tool/ports')
- All patches ('find -mindepth 4 -name "*.patch"')
The following command assembles such an archive:
cd genode tar cfz genode_3rd.tgz \ `find -mindepth 4 -name "*.port" \ -or -name "*.hash" \ -or -name "*.patch"` \ tool/ports
When transferring the resulting 'genode_3rd.tgz' archive to your online computer, you will be able to perform the preparation of all ports using the 'tool/ports/...' tools contained in the archive. The resulting 'contrib/' directory can then be transferred to your offline computer.
Thanks very much for this elaborate explanation! I'm not yet sure whether I actually require (or want) so much flexibility to get the required ports. But anyway, it's good to know that it could be achieved.
Cheers, Roman