Re: kernel size (was: How do I get GATEWAY2000 PS/2 mouse to work?)
> > The real question is whether the default kernel should be bloated with
> > features, or pared down.
From: Todd Tyrone Fries <todd@miango.com>
> The default kernel need not contain anything that isn't necessary
> to boot. This means floppy, minix, and ramdisk drivers.
This is the way it will be for 1.2 . I am testing it now. The default kernel
has no IDE, no SCSI, little else. When you set up the system, it builds a RAM
disk image that is loaded at boot time. The script on the RAM disk loads the
modules for your local hardware configuration _before_ it mounts the root.
Some things that still aren't modularized are in the default kernel.
The stripped-down kernel and the compressed installation root filesystem
fit on one 1200K floppy and run fine that way. The floppy also contains
a few of the most popular modules, and you get to feed it more floppies
(or a CD) containing other modules depending on your configuration.
No-floppy bootstrap should be possible for systems with 8MB RAM and a CD
or DOS hard disk. One-floppy NFS bootstrap should be possible.
See /usr/src/linux/Documentation/initrd.txt .
Bruce
Reply to: