On Tue, 2006-01-03 at 10:09 -0800, Andrew Sackville-West wrote: > > J.F. Gratton wrote: > > solved, but not at my full satisfaction... > > > > I compiled the kernel with initrd support and it went fine, using a > > 2.6.12-10 config file. > > > > I therefore voided one of the main gain I wanted by building my own > > kernel: getting rid of initrd. I still got my own kernel at the time I > > wanted (ie: not waiting for the distro to issue one), but hey.. one > > cannot win everywhere :) > > This is something I've wondered about for a while watching various > kernel compile threads. What is the purpose of getting rid of initrd? > What is the advantage (or dis-, I suppose) of this? > > A
[the following is not flame-bait, just my personal opinion :) ] Some advantages of initrd are mainly for distros. They don't have to compile/merge lots of drivers into the kernel image when they provide an install cd/dvd . That way they can "modularize" (if that word exists) their kernels instead of relying on big monolithic thingies at install. This way, having all your IDE/SCSI layer (to name one part of the kernel) in a RAM Disk, you don't have to worry of what type of hardware your recipient is using. Cram everything into a initrd as modules, and that's it. Some disadvantages, in my view : - More dependencies to take into account when building your kernel (you need tools like initrd-tools or initramfs-tools on top of your current toolchain. For a glimpse of the current problems you might encounter when building an initrd: http://www.debian-administrator.org/articles/291/ http://www.debian-administrator.org/articles/293/ (they both point to 2 bugs registered at debian.org; you might want to see those) - A few more steps to build your kernel; ok, that is no big deal, really, but if one can avoid it.. why not ? - I know my hardware, it's unlikely to change in a near-future; a new kernel is more likely to come out thant my hardware to change; why using an initrd then if I know exactly what needs to be put in modules and must not ? Other people might come up with better ways to explain what I think, or other reasons to love/loathe initrd. It's up to them :) -- Jeff -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]