Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 07:59:43 +1100 From: Peter Jeremy <peter.jeremy@auss2.alcatel.com.au> To: current@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: /boot vs /usr/mdec [was Re: Is it soup yet? :-)] Message-ID: <98Nov12.080026est.40345@border.alcanet.com.au>
next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Nate Williams <nate@mt.sri.com> wrote: >Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> wrote: >> I think the issue is perhaps a little over-emotional. The images total >> 8k in three files, and really don't justify or warrant a directory all >> to themselves *anywhere*. > >More than that. I've got 101K in mine, which includes boot1, boot2, >fbsdboot.exe, a bunch of com files for ether-booting, and rawboot. /usr/mdec on 3.0-RELEASE contains 1.5MB, os which 1.4MB is cdboot. There's 100K (exactly) of other boot images. FWIW, I don't see any point in moving this to /boot (or anywhere else in /). I share the viewpoints which can be summarised as (in my priority order): 1) / should contain only the tools/programs/data necessary to boot the system and resurrect the remaining filesystems. The contents of /usr/mdec do not fall into this category (see below). 2) /usr/mdec is the standard BSD place for boot-related data. It may be an obscure place, but so is /usr/platform/sun4m/lib/fs/ufs [the Solaris 2.x equivalent on a sun4m]. 3) Resizing / is painful. Minimising the amount of extraneous junk loaded into / helps put off that evil day. /usr/mdec does not contain any _files_ that are helpful in booting a system or resurrecting a system once it is booted. The contents of boot[12] are essential to boot a system, but they have to be located in particular physical disk blocks - not in a filesystem. Similarly, the network card ROM images have to be in a ROM on the network card to be of any use. fbsdboot.exe is of no use at all inside a UFS filesystem (since the fileloader it is designed to work with cannot understand UFS). Peter -- Peter Jeremy (VK2PJ) peter.jeremy@alcatel.com.au Alcatel Australia Limited 41 Mandible St Phone: +61 2 9690 5019 ALEXANDRIA NSW 2015 Fax: +61 2 9690 5247 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?98Nov12.080026est.40345>