On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:29:11 +0000, Alan Mackenzie wrote:

> > It's already happened here. My kernel mounts / and /usr thanks to the
> > inbuilt initramfs  
> 
> That's exactly what I didn't mean, and I think you might have been aware
> of that.

Maybe, but it does fit your description.

> What I did mean was being able to mount subsequent partitions by giving
> kernel parameters in the boot loader configuration file.  Something like
> "mount=8,3:/usr" for mount /dev/sda3 /usr.
> 
> This would avoid the need to spend any effort whatsoever on building an
> initramfs, yet /usr would be mounted early in boot.

That sounds like a simple and elegant idea, and the kernel already
contains the code to mount filesystems. However, it doesn't handle
dm-crypt or LVM and putting all that in the kernel could be more complex
than putting the initramfs to do it in the kernel. However, if it could
be made to work , it would be a neat approach.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Master of all I survey (at the moment, empty pizza boxes)