On Sat Jan 08, 2000 at 06:11:39PM +0000, Alan Cox wrote:
> > isn't one), but do have the ability to load and execute a block of code
> > (the kernel) from the network. This patch allows the kernel, once it's
>
> Then they can support an initrd. You can have the initrd compiled into or
> appended to the kernel image.
>
This makes it terribly difficut for (embedded) distributions. Right now
for powerpc, for example, I have to compile up and piece together the
initrd, then compile the initrd into the kernel. This works fine for my
embedded dist. installer, but then as part of the install process we
need to adjust the _installed_ initrd (since there is no disk on the
boxes in question) to handle things like IP addresses and passwords and
such. To get this newly adjusted initrd to boot means I have to search
for the initrd's gzip magic in the kernel, and then binary edit the
kernel, and have the kernel whine on boot about trailing garbage in the
initrd. This is very messy.
I really, really, would like to avoid having the initrd compiled into
the kernel. De-coupled is good, and IMHO the initrd-tftp patch is a good
thing. Embedded folks like this patch!
-Erik
--
Erik B. Andersen Web: http://www.xmission.com/~andersen/
email: andersee@debian.org
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