Re: base-installer - enabling initramfs-tools ?
On Sat, Dec 03, 2005 at 11:41:38PM +0100, Frans Pop wrote:
> I've tested a new base-installer with Colin's initramfs-tools patch
> enabled again. As such the patch works, but I cannot see much point in
> committing it currently.
>
> Reason is that, even if initramfs-tools is already installed, 'apt-install
> <kernel image>' will still pull in yaird and thus yaird will be used to
> create the initrd.
>
> Reason is that the kernel images currently list the following
> dependencies:
> Depends: yaird | initramfs-tools | linux-initramfs-tool, module-init-tools
Ok, this should not happen, if initramfs-tools is installed, then it should
satisfy that dependency, so there must be something else going on.
> I think we have 5 options:
> - forget about using initramfs-tools as default for d-i
I feel that this is a decision which you need to take together with the kernel
team, and not do your own stuff in your corner, especially as the kernel team
has been evaluating both tools since over a month. Especially as
initramfs-tools/yaird is known not to work on some architectures.
> - install both even if initramfs-tools will probably not be used
This is probably best, and i would say leave the choice to the user in expert
mode even :). In particular, the plan is to have the kernel postinst chose the
more refined detection of working use-cases, and disable the tool which is
known not to work, as such there may be some use-case where having
initramfs-tools and not yaird will fail (at runtime sadly as this is how
initramfs-tools is designed, contrary to yaird which will fail at ramdisk
build time).
I am toying with the idea of modifying the dependency to pull in both of them,
but a Recommend for initramfs-tools was proposed also, not sure if the way
packages are installed in d-i will do the right thing in how it handles
Recommends.
> - add code to edit the config file force the use of initramfs-tools;
> yaird will probably still be installed though
> - convince the kernel team to list initramfs-tools first instead of yaird,
> effectively changing the default initrd generator
> - file a bug against apt-get (?) to not pull in a first dep if an
> alternative "ORed" dep is already satisfied
Yeah, this sounds very much like an arrogant "we have decided to use
initramfs-tools and the kernel team are just morrons" kind of speach, and then
you wonder why i get pissed at you for this kind of things. What about doing
the sane thing, and both discuss this with the kernel team, and second
deferring to the kernel teams decision on this, as the kernel team is the one
which will in the end have to deal with bug reports due to your choices.
> From a d-i standpoint initramfs-tools has the advantage that its
> dependencies and total size are lighter than yaird, especially now that
> python is no longer required.
Yeah, only klibc which is still not building fine on all arches. Speak about
informed decision.
> Extract from the installations syslog:
> base-installer: info: Installing initrd-tools.
> apt-install: The following extra packages will be installed:
> apt-install: cramfsprogs dash
> apt-install: The following NEW packages will be installed:
> apt-install: cramfsprogs dash initrd-tools
Why in hell are you installing initrd-tools ?
> base-installer: info: Installing kernel 'linux-image-2.6-686'.
> apt-install: The following extra packages will be installed:
> apt-install: libhtml-template-perl libparse-recdescent-perl
> linux-image-2.6.14-2-686 perl perl-modules yaird
> apt-install: Suggested packages:
> apt-install: libipc-sharedcache-perl linux-doc-2.6.14
> linux-source-2.6.14 lilo grub
> apt-install: fdutils libterm-readline-gnu-perl
> libterm-readline-perl-perl doc-base
> apt-install: Recommended packages:
> apt-install: perl-doc
> apt-install: The following NEW packages will be installed:
> apt-install: libhtml-template-perl libparse-recdescent-perl
> linux-image-2.6-686
> apt-install: linux-image-2.6.14-2-686 perl perl-modules yaird
>
> apt-install: Setting up linux-image-2.6.14-2-686 (2.6.14-4) ...
> apt-install: Using /usr/sbin/mkinitrd.yaird to build the ramdisk.
> apt-install: Full list of probed ramdisk generating tools :
> /usr/sbin/mkinitrd /usr/sbin/mkinitrd.yaird /usr/sbin/mkinitramfs.
Ah, well, these two lines show that initramfs-tools are not installed, or it
would be listed as Possible other candidate in an additional line between the
Using ... and Full list ..., so i think you just messed up the installing of
initramfs-tools, and are looking for far-fetched conclusions out of some
stupid mistake, oh well.
CCing the kernel team, as this is where you should have posted in the first
place.
Note to Frans: i took the effort to remove you explicitly from the recipients,
and would have trimmed this, except i am cross posting to debian-kernel, and
there was not really much to trim, as you see, i make effort, and i hope to
see the day you also make effort to cooperate instead of just bashing in
haugthyness.
Friendly,
Sven Luther
Reply to: