[klibc] Common base system for initramfs ?

[Karl Hegbloom]

I wonder if part of the reasoning behind moving klibc into the Kernel
itself and integrating it with kbuild has to do with creating a common
base system for the initramfs that is meant to work across all Linux
distros?  I'm very skeptical that such a thing can be created in a way
that would satisfy everyone, and maintained peacefully with no forks.

I've been helping Jeff Bailey of Canonical with the 'initramfs-tools'
package for Ubuntu.  We've got a modular design that is extensible by
way of installing packages and by the local admin.  The initramfs is to
be generated when the kernel image is installed via 'dpkg'.  Scripts run
at that time, and others are dropped into the image itself.  It also has
a facility for appending a set of .cpio.gz (overlay) files found in a
certain directory.

You may view the source via 'bazaar-ng' (bzr branch http...) at:

 http://people.ubuntu.com/~jbailey/bzrtree/initramfs-tools

at:

 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/i/initramfs-tools/

... or most simply, by logging into your favorite Ubuntu workstation and
running:

 apt-src install initramfs-tools

The package is not done yet.  It will need to be gone over by the
'usplash' people, to ensure that the hooks they'll need are in place.
(usplash is a user-space boot splash package)

-- 
Karl Hegbloom <hegbloom at pdx.edu>