Linux Debian support - Initrd and filesistem modules

Author

Initrd and filesistem modules

Panciz

2008-01-02, 7:15 am

Can someone explain me the reason why in the debian distributions all
the filesystem kernel modules are not compile inside the kernle but
loaded at the boot using the initramdisk??
For example why the ext3 module, which is vital, is not compile in the
kernel???

Thanks

Michael C.

2008-01-02, 7:12 pm

On Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:12:07 +0100,
Panciz <davidepoletti@fastwebnet.it> wrote:
> Can someone explain me the reason why in the debian distributions all
> the filesystem kernel modules are not compile inside the kernle but
> loaded at the boot using the initramdisk??
> For example why the ext3 module, which is vital, is not compile in the
> kernel???

How it's compiled is a matter of preference.

The ext3 module is only essential if you installed on ext3 (and
provided ext2 support is compiled in, you really don't need that to
read it.)

Some people choose to install on ext2, reiser, etc and have no use for
ext3. That being said, I hate playing around with the initrd and
recompile with the filesystems I plan on using built into the kernel.

While you could compile all the modules into the kernel, it would
substantially increase its size, which could become a problem on older
machines. I'm not sure if it has an impact on speed or not.

Historically, I believe the purpose of initrd was to allow you to use
more than one disk while booting, the kernel had to fit on one disk.
I'm not sure if you can still create a boot floppy, you used to be
able to in Debian, but with my custom compiled kernel I can't as the
kernel is too large.

Michael C.
--
mjchappell@verizon.net http://mcsuper5.freeshell.org/

A pessimist always wins.
He is either wrong (which is good), or he has the satisfaction
of being right.