Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Optional /usr merge in Gentoo

[Neil Bothwick]

On Tue, 20 Aug 2013 10:08:02 -0400, Tanstaafl wrote:

> > That depends on your needs. The reason I do it this way is so that the
> > initramfs is locked to the kernel. Once that kernel boots, it will
> > always boot because the initramfs cannot be changed. If I make a
> > change to the initramfs, that's a new kernel and however broken it
> > may be, the old one will still work.
>
> So, you're saying that whoever it was that said that some userland
> files (that the initramfs 'refers to') could get updated, causing it to
> get out of sync - and presumably causing it to fail to boot if/when you
> rebooted - was wrong?

I though the post about a failure to boot was due to the kernel and
initrd getting out of sync, a definite problem. Having slightly different
versions of busybox in the initramfs and / isn't going to cause a
problem. If it worked yesterday, why would it not work today?

> The main thing about this whole initramfs thing is, like Dale, I just
> don't understand it. I understand grub and grub.conf. I understand
> enough about compiling a kernel to be able to get it done and be
> reasonably sure it is done right.
>
> But if my system ever failed to boot because of a problem with the
> initramfs, I basically would be hosed.

I was the same. I learned about GRUB and then I understood it. Then I
switched to Gentoo and learned about kernel compilation and then I
understood it. A while ago, i had a need for an initramfs, so I learned
about it and now I understand it. Somewhere in this sequence I also
switched to GRUB2, which i previously had no knowledge of.

Do you see the pattern, your lack of understanding is not a failing of
the software? This is not a technological point, or even a political one,
it is about being outside of your comfort zone. Using Gentoo is an
exercise in expanding your comfort zone.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

If Bill Gates had a dime for every time a Windows box crashed...
 ...Oh, wait a minute, he already does.