On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 9:59 AM, William Hubbs <willi...@gentoo.org> wrote: > I'm glad someone else on this list finally realizes that udev did not break > separate /usr on its own. I've been trying to explain this to people > here for ages. > > It isn't just programs that use libraries in /usr/lib that are broken. > Any program in early boot that tries to access data files in /usr/share > before /usr is mounted is broken, so for example, locales do not > work before /usr is mounted.
Yup - the increasing dbusification and increased use of shared libs has tended to drive this as well. More and more system packages are supporting more and more exotic and automagic configurations, and that is leading to a situation where the boot-time dependencies are growing. The more complex your situation gets, the more likely you need /usr early. I bit the bullet with initramfs, and while I struggled with the dracut documentation at the time it has worked out well. I can just set up an additional early-boot fstab and whatever is in it gets mounted. I'll likely migrate root to lvm was well now that the barrier for that is gone. Plus, when I get new hardware I can just compile a boatload of modules without getting memory bloat or trying to guess which driver is the one needed to boot my new whatever. It does cost some compile time though. But, if your needs are simple and you want to avoid the initramfs, more power to you. Gentoo is about choice. It is OK to try something and decide it isn't right, and that goes both ways. I'd strongly encourage everybody following this thread to understand your options, try out your options (VMs or whatever), and make the decision because you know what is best for you. Rich
