Adam Williamson composed on 2015-01-22 18:39 (UTC-0800):
On Thu, 2015-01-22 at 21:21 -0500, Felix Miata wrote:
> Not mounting as boot a partition containing kernels and/or
initrds in its
> root I could understand and agree with, but not forced reformatting.
As things stand anaconda just doesn't have this degree of
precision. I
think I'm right in saying nothing in anaconda looks at the actual
contents of existing partitions at all. It just knows whether there's
already a filesystem on the device, and whether you're reformatting it.
Even so, I don't understand what the problem is that dracut can't be limited
to producing images based on /lib/modules, name matches to the installing
arch, whatever is in the list of packages Anaconda has selected to install,
or some other kind of matching. Simply recognizing that a filesystem is
supported or not ought to be enough for it to decide if a fresh filesystem is
appropriate for the little activity /boot gets.
So honestly I pretty much consider most multiboot configs more
trouble
than they're worth, but what I'm not understanding from any of the
descriptions so far is what actual value you get from sharing a
partition mounted at /boot between multiple distributions?
I provided no use case for sharing a /boot partition among more than one / on
a multiboot system. I objected to eradicating non-conflicting subdirectories
located on a filesystem proposed for use as /boot, and provided reasons
supporting my objection.
The point of the partition mounted at /boot *to a Linux distribution*
is that it's where it should install its kernels and things to.
Right, but I recall nothing in FHS that says an admin should have no right to
store other things that do not conflict with what is expected to live there,
rather like /mnt or /media.
FWIW, something is putting "theme" files in /boot even though what the theme
is for is not installed. Why aren't theme files for the bootloader among the
places other things that use themes expect to find them?
Nothing I've seen so far actually seemed to indicate any
situation
where it was useful for one distribution to be able to see another's
kernels.
Neither I.
All the setups discussed so far seem to be based on the design where
you have a 'master' bootloader which chainloads each distro's own
bootloader. OK, but then what's the point of sharing or reusing a
/boot partition?
Creating extra trouble potential?
I don't actually see, in your description, where you need to
reuse a
/boot partition. The first OS install creates it fresh, then
In my scenario, the OS installation does not create a filesystem on a /boot
partition. I first create partitioning, then format partition for bootloader,
put bootloader on partition, and only afterward install the first operating
system.
subsequent installs don't use it - they have their /boot
directories
on their root partitions. You don't actually seem to re-use the
partition you call 'realboot' in a later OS installation at all, do
you? Or am I missing a step somewhere?
Maybe you skipped over #2, #3 & #4 in my list? I don't re-use *as* /boot. Use
as /boot only ever happens here for the first OS installation. But, I do on
occasion have use for the content I put on it both before and after the first
OS installation, as well as while the first is the only, regardless of where
it's mounted.
For "before" it might have a rawhide directory with network installation
kernel and initrd, which I would expect to use again later if I abort the
installation before completion, or it aborts itself when the network goes
down for several hours. I can't be the only one doing network installs
without using removable media or PXE.
It *does* already have a bootloader on it, and since I don't ever allow Grub2
to be installed except to a *buntu installation, Anaconda wiping mine would
mean no booting HD at all, and me having to redo everything I did to get
Anaconda started in the first place, after backing up what Anaconda put
there, and afterward putting it back.
--
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)
Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!
Felix Miata ***
http://fm.no-ip.com/