Re: [gentoo-dev] [PATCH] 2024-01-02-separate-usr-now-requires-an-initramfs: add news item

[Sam James <sam@gentoo.org>]

Ulrich Mueller <ulm@gentoo.org> writes:

> [[PGP Signed Part:Undecided]]
>>>>>> On Tue, 02 Jan 2024, Eli Schwartz wrote:
>
>> +++ b/2024-01-02-separate-usr-now-requires-an-initramfs/2024-01-02-separate-usr-now-requires-an-initramfs.txt
>
> The short-name is rather long. GLEP 42 strongly recommends to stay below
> 20 characters:
> https://www.gentoo.org/glep/glep-0042.html#news-item-identities
>
>> +Title: Separate /usr now requires an initramfs
>> +Author: Eli Schwartz <eschwartz93@gmail.com>
>> +Content-Type: text/plain
>> +Posted: 2024-01-02
>> +Revision: 1
>> +News-Item-Format: 2.0
>> +Display-If-Installed: sys-apps/baselayout[split-usr]
>
> This is not a valid header. (Format 2.0 doesn't have Content-Type.)
>
>> +In 2013, Gentoo policy determined that separate /usr without an initramfs was
>> +officially no longer supported:
>> +
>> +- https://projects.gentoo.org/qa/policy-guide/filesystem.html#pg0202
>> +- https://gitweb.gentoo.org/data/gentoo-news.git/tree/2013/2013-09-27-initramfs-required/2013-09-27-initramfs-required.en.txt?id=a79dd69b0cca439bc0c483c9193c79e0554819d0
>
> The 2013-09-27-initramfs-required news item already said:
>
> | Linux systems which have / and /usr on separate file systems but do not
> | use an initramfs will not be supported starting on 01-Nov-2013.
> |
> | If you have / and /usr on separate file systems and you are not
> | currently using an initramfs, you must set one up before this date.
> | Otherwise, at some point on or after this date, upgrading packages
> | will make your system unbootable.
>
> It is also in the Handbook since 2014:
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Kernel#Optional:_Building_an_initramfs
>
> What has changed that we would need another news item?

The fact that we continued to support it means we had various confused
users (like in the cited bug 868306). The job was never finished, with
usr-ldscript remaining pervasive in the tree, and then it appearing
supported - or at least not unsupported.

>
> Ulrich
>
> [[End of PGP Signed Part]]