Although I've been an embedded linux developer for a couple of decades, I'm pure noob when it comes to tiny core, so I apologize if this is a noob question. I've read through a bunch of documentation and have poured over the available sources, but I'm still lacking illumination, so I thought I would ask.
It's not clear to me how one builds a particular version of tiny core linux from sources. I've found (and read) the build scripts for the various versions of TCL, but there always appears to be an issue that just doesn't seem to be resolvable. I'll pick on the 7.x release because it's the one I have on my desktop right now.
TCL 7.x appears to have been released with three minor numbers, 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2. When I look at the "release", I only see 7.2 iso files. When I look at the sources, I see a bunch of tarballs, patches for those particular tarballs, etc. However, I notice that I see only one version of each of the tarballs, patches, etc. Since 7.1 updates to a new version of busybox, 1.24.2, I would expect to see busybox 1.24.2 and a prior version (for TCL 7.0). I don't. Actually, I see busybox 1.24.1. The "archive" directory does provide iso files for 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2, but no sources for each release. Only the "release" directory provides sources...and they don't seem to correspond to any particular release of 7.x.
When I look at the compile_tc7_x86 script, I see that it calls for kernel 4.2.1. TCL 7.0 indicates it uses kernel 4.2.9. Oddly, the "kernel" sources directory has both 4.2.7 and 4.2.9 and no build script for the kernel. The only kernel build seems to be the compile_tc7_x86 script from in the "toolchain" directory which, as mentioned, uses the 4.2.1 kernel present in that directory.
The fundamental question I'm trying to get answered is: How does one reproduce the output of a particular version of Tiny Core Linux from source?
I keep reading answers on the forum that say the answer to my question is to just run the compile_x script, but when I read the scripts for various builds it's pretty clear that what's being build doesn't correspond with the binary releases. So, what's the magic?
If I've just missed the post/reference that covers this, a pointer would be appreciated.