Date: Mon, 21 Jul 1997 22:53:36 -0700 (PDT) From: Simon Shapiro <Shimon@i-Connect.Net> To: Michael Smith <msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au> Cc: freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG, terry@lambert.org, pechter@lakewood.com Subject: Re: Boot file system idea! Slick Message-ID: <XFMail.970721232730.Shimon@i-Connect.Net> In-Reply-To: <199707220143.LAA25905@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au>
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Hi Michael Smith; On 22-Jul-97 you wrote:
> Bill Pechter stands accused of saying:
> > > > Still, it may be worth thinking about.
> > >
> > > If you think about it, think about making it a small DOS partition
> and
> > > not a BFS partition.
> >
> > Damn, that's slick. Great IDEA! If the kernel gets blown or corrupted
> > a simple copy from a dos floppy and it's fixed...
>
> ... this is just one small step from "boot from a kernel image on a
> DOS partition".
>
> > Slick. Anyone else like this or is it just me?
>
> Yeah, I've always liked it. The biggest argument you will hear
> against it is "backwards compatability", along with "mandatory
> MSDOSFS". If/when Robert Nordier ever gets his VFATFS code finished,
> there might be a good chance of making this happen.
What I like about it is that it:
a. Increases the size and complexity of a minimal kernel to include
another file system not necessarily needed otherwise.
b. Uses a standard file system. Which standard?
c. Makes FreeBSD (installation) dependant on MicroSoft.
d. Allows everyone with a dos floppy (or without) to modify/destroy the
O/S.
On the down side of things, one has to ask:
1. What does it exactly buy?
* A smaller boot image? No
* A simpler boot? No.
The SysV bfs has SOME merit. Except that it is very slow for some reason.
The (only) advantage is in a simplified & unified boot. The files are
contigious, in a very simple directory. All this is nullified when one
considers that it is an option. So the 2nd, 3rd stage boot still need to
know multiple file system formats.
Note: The above (my portion) is only worth $0.02 or less :-)
Simon
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