On Sat, 21 Apr 2001, Mike Noyes wrote:
> [EMAIL PROTECTED], 2001-04-20 18:03 -0700
> >On Fri, 20 Apr 2001, Mike Noyes wrote:
> > > This still doesn't explain why Debian is
> > > trying to do the following for their boot floppies.
> > >
> > > http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot-0102/msg00435.html
> > > ~ Build in crams and ramfs. We're going to boot off of a cramfs initrd
> > > ~ and then set up and pivot_root into a ramfs filesystem.
> >
> >I;m not really familiar with the details, but I think the cramfs initrd
> >is both disk- and ram-efficient, and pivoting the root means switching
> >the root over to a writeable filesystem while maintaining access to the
> >old filesystem. For a boot floppy there is no customization, but it is
> >convenient to have a writeable root.
>
> Jeff,
> You have a better grasp of the details than I do. :)
> If I have this right, cramfs isn't flexible enough for our needs. That
> means that Midori isn't useful for a base, and we're back to vfat or minix
> for long file name support. The MontaVista rep. seemed to think ext2 wasn't
> out of the question for our needs.
Now I am confused. In what way do you regard vfat as an alternative to
minix or cramfs?
I haven't been following the idea of using Midori as a base. One of the
fundamental architectural characteristics of LRP is the separation of data
into a ram fs and a storage (backup) fs. This has different advantages and
drawbacks than a run-from-storage architecture. One of these is the
ability to construct a custom LRP even if you only have a Windows box to
work with.
However, the run-from-storage approach has strong points, too. If you put
LRP into a hard disk or flash disk, you may be using RAM rather less
effectively than you might prefer.
The Debian boot concept might be adapted to make some kind of hybrid, but
cramfs is probably not going to replace fat/vfat. A combination of cramfs
in "root.lrp", ramfs as the pivoted root with lots of symlinks into the
cramfs, and packfs to move packages from disks to ramfs and then into
cramfs, could combine to replace the existing minix ramdisk. I wonder
though, whether the temporary ram usage wouldn't exceed the plain-jane
system in use now. That is, would the extra complexity pay off?
I don't know if any of this was what you were thinking about. I have
tended to regard systems like Midori like machine shop, and LRP as a kind
of Lego experience. There is a place for each, and there may be things
one can learn from the other, but they _are_ different.
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