Bug#893845: initramfs-tools: Add LZ4 support
Package: initramfs-tools
Version: 0.130
Severity: wishlist
Dear Debian folks,
It’d be great if you added LZ4 support to initramfs-tools.
There is a patch on Launchpad [1][2], which should apply easily to the
Debian package.
An initramfs image file compressed with `gzip` has a size of 24 MB,
while with an image compressed with `lz4 -9 -l` the size is 38 MB.
On a Dell XPS 13 9370 with an Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8550U CPU @ 1.80GHz
and an NVMe SSD `populate_rootfs` takes 600 ms with the `gzip`
compressed image, while only 190 ms with the `lz4` compressed image.
(Only measured the LZ4 once.)
This can be easily measured by adding `initcall_debug` to the Linux
kernel command line – for example by editing `/etc/default/grub.cfg` and
running `sudo update-grub`. Then, after a reboot, look in the Linux
message with `journalctl -k` or `dmesg` and look for `populate_rootfs`.
As for some users boot speed is quite important, shaving 400 ms off the
boot time is quite nice.
Please tell me, if you need any help with that.
Kind regards,
Paul
[1]: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/initramfs-tools/+bug/1488620
"Add LZ4 support"
[2]:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/initramfs-tools/+bug/1488620/comments/5
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