4 ms·

What I found interesting is that it doesn't use initramfs. Can someone elaborate on that? Is that something other distros should adopt?

by ximm 5y ago

klodolph 5y ago
The initramfs is really only there to mount the root partition. Given the various ways that people want to do that, it makes a lot of sense to have an initramfs for distros that cater to many different use cases. Consider that a root partition may use LFS, disk encryption, or it may even be a network volume! I don't think there’s really much of a reason to abandon initramfs other than “maybe you don’t need it.” As far as I can tell, this distro has you compiling the kernel. If you are compiling kernel for your specific hardware, you can remove the need for kernel modules in initramfs. Distros generally compile the kernel for you, so this won’t work so well, in general. Add weasel words to the above as necessary. Basically, no major advantages to ditching initramfs, and ditching it will leave you with something less flexible. Some use cases (e.g. embedded) there may be no advantage to using initramfs in the first place.
adrian_b 5y ago
initramfs is very useful if you make a bootable external SSD or USB memory stick, which is intended to be able to boot on any random computer. After you install Linux on a known computer, maybe using a customized kernel that already includes any required modules for the root device and file system, there is absolutely no need for initramfs, which just slows the boot without any benefit.
rnestler 5y ago
They have an entry in the FAQ about initramfs: https://kisslinux.org/faq#5.2 https://kisslinux.org/faq#5.2 > KISS technically supports booting via an initramfs, it just doesn't require or provide one. As a user you have the means to set this up yourself for your system. > Full disk encryption is also possible without the use of an initramfs in modern kernels (see dm-mod.create). > The initramfs concept is an ugly, complicated and largely optional mess. Thank god it isn't a requirement.

What I found interesting is that it doesn't use initramfs. Can someone elaborate on that? Is that something other distros should adopt?

by ximm 5y ago

What I found interesting is that it doesn't use initramfs. Can someone elaborate on that? Is that something other distros should adopt?

klodolph 5y ago

The initramfs is really only there to mount the root partition. Given the various ways that people want to do that, it makes a lot of sense to have an initramfs for distros that cater to many different use cases. Consider that a root partition may use LFS, disk encryption, or it may even be a network volume! I don't think there’s really much of a reason to abandon initramfs other than “maybe you don’t need it.” As far as I can tell, this distro has you compiling the kernel. If you are compiling kernel for your specific hardware, you can remove the need for kernel modules in initramfs. Distros generally compile the kernel for you, so this won’t work so well, in general. Add weasel words to the above as necessary. Basically, no major advantages to ditching initramfs, and ditching it will leave you with something less flexible. Some use cases (e.g. embedded) there may be no advantage to using initramfs in the first place.

adrian_b 5y ago

initramfs is very useful if you make a bootable external SSD or USB memory stick, which is intended to be able to boot on any random computer. After you install Linux on a known computer, maybe using a customized kernel that already includes any required modules for the root device and file system, there is absolutely no need for initramfs, which just slows the boot without any benefit.

rnestler 5y ago

They have an entry in the FAQ about initramfs: https://kisslinux.org/faq#5.2 https://kisslinux.org/faq#5.2 > KISS technically supports booting via an initramfs, it just doesn't require or provide one. As a user you have the means to set this up yourself for your system. > Full disk encryption is also possible without the use of an initramfs in modern kernels (see dm-mod.create). > The initramfs concept is an ugly, complicated and largely optional mess. Thank god it isn't a requirement.