Comment # 33 on bug 1202353 from Michal Suchanek

So what is the situation?

Kernel depends on mkinitrd bude never uses it:

doc/README.SUSE:       an initrd for the new kernel as well (see ``mkinitrd
-h'').
rpm/kernel-binary.spec.in:# packages to install/update. Likewise, this is true
for mkinitrd.
rpm/kernel-binary.spec.in:Requires(post): mkinitrd
rpm/kernel-binary.spec.in:# Require a mkinitrd that can handle
usbhid/hid-generic built-in (bnc#773559)
rpm/kernel-binary.spec.in:Requires(post): mkinitrd >= 2.7.1
rpm/kernel-binary.spec.in:# Do not install p-b and mkinitrd for the install
check, the %post script is
rpm/kernel-binary.spec.in:#!BuildIgnore: perl-Bootloader mkinitrd
distribution-release
rpm/kernel-binary.spec.in:Requires(post): mkinitrd
rpm/kernel-binary.spec.in:Requires(post): mkinitrd


suse-module-tools use mkinitrd:

kernel-scriptlets/rpm-script:   # run depmod and mkinitrd
kernel-scriptlets/rpm-script:       echo "$wm2 does not exist, please run
depmod and mkinitrd manually" >&2
suse-module-tools.spec:# "/usr/lib/module-init-tools" name hardcoded in KMPs,
mkinitrd, etc.
weak-modules:   if [ -x /sbin/mkinitrd ]; then
weak-modules:       /sbin/mkinitrd -k /boot/$image-$krel -i /boot/initrd-$krel
weak-modules:       echo "Please run mkinitrd as soon as your system is
complete." >&2


Also there is a couple of places where mkinitrd is mentioned in documentation.

Since SLE15 SP4 mkinitrd is in a separate package so we cannot
s/mkinitrd/dracut/ in kernel dependencies because that will potentially break
on SP4 when suse-module-tools tries to call mkinitrd when building the kernel
ramdisk.

s/mkinitrd/suse-module-tools/ won't work either because s-m-t itself does not
depend on mkinitrd.