Peter Hanisch wrote:
Functionally intermediate binary that is loaded during boot and includes filesystem and possibly volume manager drivers and logic to load additional drivers on demand is initrd. With the primary difference that initrd supports more than one filesystem, more than one volume manager, places no restrictions on ondisk format, can be used to mount filesystem across networks, can be used to cleanly tear down filesystems during shutdown, ... I definitely forgot something else here.
You can cleanly tear down FS's w/o initrd, and with lilo, you can support all the file systems. Be careful not to add the limitations of grub -- which needs considerable OS support, to restrictions placed on a disk-boot. In fact, generally, since lilo doesn't go through the file system, file system corruption doesn't create a problem as it would in grub -- and since it doesn't have to follow chains of FS directory and inode lookups, it would also run faster. So you've only pointed out a reason to use initrd is to use a slower and less reliable (though more flexible in some circumstances, that are generally rare), boot manager.
Full disk encryption is what you forgot to list! :) It can unlock all your partitions before starting to read from them. That doesn't work without some form of ramdisk.
Works on windows just fine. Better actually, since if you have full disk encryption -- how can the BIOS read the encrypted boot sector to execute it? (on windows, presuming you are using a HW based encryption). w/sw based, your boot manager has to handle it -- which is likely able to be included in either lilo or grub (or could be)... Anything else you think initrd is needed for when it isn't in windows? Why would linux be crippled compared to windows? Should it be? What does it buy linux? I consistently have more problems booting linux than windows due to ill-tested, incompatible and ongoing mangling of the boot process. This isn't something a professional, corporate supporting company should want under any circumstance, yet it is being fought for out of knee-jerk reactions because it is how it has "always been done" (and because I, a female, am suggesting something different). Heaven forbid a female would have any input into the linux boot process, let alone an outspoken one like me]. How could any woman have any ideas about linux that wouldn't be inferior to anything men come up with? (wasn't going to throw in the last, because it inevitably is seen as whining...but always by those who have vested interests in discounting it -- it's like the "new" revelation about age-bias in silicon valley -- this was known 15 years ago. It's funny how each generation has to rediscover the wheel and truths already known before -- yet thrown away due to institutional Alzheimer's). -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org