Re: [gentoo-dev] Re: Let's redesign the entire filesystem!

[David Leverton <levertond@googlemail.com>]

On 14 March 2012 22:51, Greg KH <gregkh@gentoo.org> wrote:
> Oh, that's simple, separate-/usr-without-initramfs will not work and
> will not be supported :)

See, it's this "we're doing it this way because we know best and we
say so" that upsets people.  I'm trying to encourage everyone to get
to the core reasons for having a separate /usr in the first place (not
all of which are guaranteed to be mentioned on any specific wiki
page), and logically analyse the potential disadvantages of using an
initramfs in each situation.  It may turn out that there are no
disadvantages after all, but the analysis is still important, not only
to make sure that "we"'re making the right decision, but also to
persuade everyone else that it's the right decision.

> Again, the fact that it works for some people today is pure luck, and
> odds are, it really isn't, but it's really hard to determine this given
> that the init system they are using doesn't provide a good feedback loop
> for this type of thing.

Maybe it would be worth improving the init system to do so?  Or maybe
it wouldn't because using an initramfs is easier and has no drawbacks,
but see above.