Andries Brouwer wrote: > In other words, we need the user space command `partition', > where "partition -t dos /dev/sda" reads a DOS-type partition > table.
So if you e.g. hotplug a new device, its partitions won't be accessible before you (or some hotplug manager, etc.) run "partition" ? > The two variants are: (i) partition tells the kernel > to do the partition table reading, and (ii) partition uses partx > to read the partition table and tells the kernel one-by-one > about the partitions found this way. I guess, once you've reached the point where the kernel is unable to find partitions without user-space help, you may as well do everything in user space. > Since this is a fundamental change, Pretty much, yes. Except for a few embedded systems (*), this would mark the end of kernels that can do anything useful without initrd or initramfs. (*) Oh, regarding the other exception, ceterum censeo nfsroot esse delendam. > a long transition period > is needed, and that period could start with a kernel boot parameter > telling the kernel not to do partition table parsing on a particular > disk, or a particular type of disks, or all disks. ... and allow "partition" to override partitions previously auto-detected by the kernel. That way, you can phase in "partition" without needing to change your kernel setup. Besides, the ability to correct past mistakes would also be useful if auto-detection from user space yields garbage. - Werner -- _________________________________________________________________________ / Werner Almesberger, Buenos Aires, Argentina [EMAIL PROTECTED] / /_http://www.almesberger.net/____________________________________________/ - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/