Support for merged-/usr now in debootstrap; default for stretch?
Hi,
debootstrap in unstable can now install with merged-/usr, that is with
/bin, /sbin, /lib* being symlinks to their counterpart in /usr. Run
debootstrap --merged-usr testing .../testing http://deb.debian.org/debian
to give it a try.
It has been previously suggested to make this the default for (at least)
new installations. I think Russ' earlier mail[1] explains quite well
why the "split" between / and /usr doesn't really work out for Debian
these days and that trying to maintain it for some configurations (which
are not documented) is mostly busy-work. There is also a nice article
on LWN[2] summarizing earlier discussions.
I found these arguments convincing enough and would like to see the
default switched to merged-/usr for Stretch and later. Possibly also
switching systems on upgrade to the new scheme (not necessarily already
in the Stretch release cycle).
Please remember that this still allows / and /usr to reside on different
filesystems: in this case the initramfs has to make sure /usr is mounted
as well. This is already required for various reasons (again, see [1]).
Ansgar
[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2016/01/msg00081.html
[2] https://lwn.net/Articles/670071/
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