Mick wrote: > On Friday, 17 May 2019 09:43:46 BST Dale wrote: > >> My problems with init thingys date all the way back to to the Mandrake >> 9.1 days when I first used Linux. > I was never a Mandrake user, but also avoided using an initrd unless it came > with a binary distro - at which point I would also expect it to Just-Work(TM). > > The world has moved on since Mandrake 9.x and the generation of initramfs is > a > much more automated and reliable process now.
I was not that lucky with Mandrake. I stopped counting the number of times the init thingy failed. It got to a point where I would not update Mandrake, I would download a new CD and reinstall only leaving /home untouched. Even then, with some dodgy hardware, rebooting was not something I looked forward to. > > Regarding a separate /usr fs necessitating initramfs, it shouldn't be too > difficult to plan some downtime, reboot with Live-media and move the /usr fs > contents into /, following any required partition modifications. Unless of > course you *want* to keep /usr separate for mounting it as read-only, or > sharing it among multiple OS, in which case I don't think you can escape > initramfs. > > The downtime for rebooting a new kernel is measured in seconds. Even if the > new kernel fails, you can fallback onto the previous kernel and boot that in > seconds. > As I posted earlier, if I ever replace the hard drive, with a SDD most likely, that is the plan. With a SDD there is little need to have a separate partition. I may still make /var separate tho, since I've had logs go crazy and fill it up before. Having /var fill up is less of a problem than / filling up. >> As to hardware, I had one time where that was a issue. Power failed and >> a shutdown was needed. When I went to power back up, the CPU fan >> wouldn't spin up. After a couple drops of oil was added, it was >> spinning up again and of course, I ordered a replacement fan right >> away. I don't recall ever having any other hardware problem. > Count yourself lucky. You could have discovered your disk wouldn't spin up > again, your PSU packed up, or even the MoBo chipset decided to retire from > active service. Eventually, any of these hardware problems would manifest > themselves, but a reboot could reveal their demise sooner and hopefully at a > point where you were somewhat prepared for it. > As I posted, I've had a fan to fail, that's it. Thing is, at the moment I'm not prepared for any of that but when things age, I replace them. Of course, that really requires planning and is one reason I wouldn't mind having a second system. Thing is, if I'm running, it is working. Avoiding reboots avoids those issues. Rebooting only forces them to show up sooner, which I don't want. I'm not sure how making something fail sooner is really going to help anything. If making something fail sooner is the answer, never change oil in your car. ROFL Dale :-) :-)
