On 22/08/2013 13:47, Mark David Dumlao wrote: > > On Aug 22, 2013 1:28 PM, "J. Roeleveld" <jo...@antarean.org > <mailto:jo...@antarean.org>> wrote: >> Correct, and here lies the cause for the "out of sync" scenario. >> >> > So the only "out of sync" scenario that should matter is with the >> > kernel or kernel modules. Even if it were out of sync with your >> > current toolset it should still be able >> > to perform the pivot. Shouldn't any "userland stuff" that >> > breaks initramfs BE in initramfs? >> >> Incorrect, there are userland tools, like LVM and MDADM (layout 1.2 does >> NOT support auto-assembly by kernel), that are needed to access of the >> filesystems. >> >> It is possible that an older version of one of these tools, after an >> update, can no longer access the disks succesfully. When portage updates >> this package, the initramfs is not automatically updated with the new >> version. > > Ok. I don't use raid / lvm on my desktop so I missed the obvious case of > a user tool that needs to be in initramfs. > > But it makes sense. Any tool that affects filesystem mounting at the > very least of /usr, even if its cifs or nfs or whatev, should be > included in initramfs. This is gentoo, not ubuntu. Blind updates are > known to be irresponsible behavior. Is this a big deal? >
No it's not a big deal. If you omit support in the kernel for your mb chipset, the machine does not boot. If you forget to recompile nvidia drivers when updating the kernel, the screen does not work. If you delete the modules for ext* from /lib/modules, the kernel cannot read the file system. All these things need to be fixed manually, need to be remembered manually, are not detectable in any sane fashion and Gentoo users are expected to know what to do and how to fix it. All this talk of user tools in initramfs that might not work one time in three years is exactly the same IMNSHO. The conventional notification method is via an elog message from ebuilds that the maintainer knows will change metadata formats -- Alan McKinnon alan.mckin...@gmail.com
