:: Re: [DNG] Giving Devuan sans-initra…
Top Page
Delete this message
Reply to this message
Author: Rainer Weikusat
Date:  
To: dng
Subject: Re: [DNG] Giving Devuan sans-initramfs capabilities
Didier Kryn <kryn@???> writes:
> Le 01/01/2016 20:05, Rainer Weikusat a écrit :
>> richard lucassen <mailinglists@???> writes:
>>> Rainer Weikusat <rainerweikusat@???> wrote:
>>>>> Plus the drivers for various hardware like cciss devices, just
>>>>> having ext4 built in is not enough. Wouldn't it be better to have a
>>>>> simple initramfs with just the apropiate modules for the hardware?
>>>> No computer I've either been using privately or professionally ever
>>>> suddenly grew a new motherboard (simplification) overnight. Hence,
>>>> they're all running kernels with the drivers and filesystems necessary
>>>> for booting compiled in.
>>> Of course, but I presume that we're talking about a kernel that will be
>>> distributed by Devuan. If you build in hardware drivers for all
>>> different types of hardware, the kernel gets somewhat big IMHO ;-)
>> Some signals crossed here. I was trying to explain that "a distribution"
>> has to use initrd/ initramfs because of problems specific to
>> distribution kernels but that individual users don't have to use this
>> mechanism if they don't want to because they can just compile a kernel
>> which will work with their hardware (which is usually rather static).
>
>     There might be an optional kernel featuring sata, scsi and a few
> popular filesystems. That would match the vast majority of cases.


SCSI is a protocol for accessing storage devices. ATA is also a protocol
for accessing storage devices. SATA is ATA over a single cable (instead
of sixteen parallell cables). There's also SAS (serial-attached SCSI).
But all of this still doesn't get anyone anywhere as drivers are needed
to work with individual SATA or SCSI or SAS controllers. There's a de
facto standard SATA hardware interface called AHCI (defined by Intel)
which only needs an AHCI driver module but there are all kinds of other
SATA implementations not conforming to it. Nothing similar exists for
SCSI/ SAS interfaces.