Ivan: Well there are some several reasons for using GRUB, where it seems to do a far better job than lilo. Firstly, I can more easily edit kernel options using grub, and if I am building a kernel and I do not run lilo before rebooting I just wasted time and efforts. I also can easily edit kernel command line options right as the boot process begins, rather than having to edit /etc/lilo.conf and rerun the lilo command again. Secondly, I need the initrd because I am planning the implementation of loop-aes as my encryption layer for encrypting the root partition. This makes requisite the need for an initrd, and for the ext3 modules to NOT be part of the kernel. Perhaps one day RedHat (as did SuSE) will offer a form of encrypting filesystem (see loop-aes.sourceforge.net), which allows both the root and other (/home for example) partitions to be encrypted using an encryption standard as powerful as what the NSA approved (AES-256). In the way I plan to configure my system, I will have AES-256 encryption for root and /home partitions! Thirdly, I intend to implement a module to use the smartcard reader I have to allow my CAC (DOD ID card, which I will be issued this year) as the means of supplying the passphrase for loop-aes; this again must be done via initrd as a part of the boot up process. I had given some attention to the "indenticator" as a potential means of using a fingerprint scanner as the input for the passphrase, but I opted with the smartcard reader, since the cost was much lower and result not too much different from using the indenticator. The smartcard reader costs $17, whereas the fingerprint scanner would have cost significantly more with not much of a greater ROI. Lastly, my machine triple-boots XP, Solaris and Linux, and I find GRUB to be a far better boot loader than lilo. Lilo is passé and many Linux users are moving wholesale to GRUB. I also intend to one-day run "hurd", and for a booting of hurd you must use GRUB. Very Respectfully, Stuart Blake Tener, IT3 (E-4), USNR-R, N3GWG Beverly Hills, California VTU 1904G (Volunteer Training Unit) stuart@bh90210.net west coast: (310)-358-0202 P.O. Box 16043, Beverly Hills, CA 90209-2043 east coast: (215)-338-6005 P.O. Box 45859, Philadelphia, PA 19149-5859 Telecopier: (419)-715-6073 fax to email gateway via www.efax.com (it's free!) JOIN THE US NAVY RESERVE, SERVE YOUR COUNTRY, AND BENEFIT FROM IT ALL. Tuesday, July 09, 2002 1:17 AM -----Original Message----- From: Ivan Ivanov [mailto:ivandi@vamo.orbitel.bg] Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 11:04 PM To: Tener, Stuart B., IT3 , USNR-R Cc: 'Bill Rugolsky Jr.'; ext3-users@redhat.com Subject: Re: ARE: Changing journaling mode on root / loop-aes > Generally I stay away from using rawhide RPMs since they can > have bugs and as I understand it, and is not production level ready. > Thus, it is quite interesting that if there is a fix for this (which is > script based, not code needing recompilation and distribution of new > binaries), why there is no new update available via up2date? > > I will get the most recent mkinitrd from the rawhide > distribution, and see if it fixes the problem. > This is the most complicated way to boot a linux box that I ever heared. Why dont't you simple recompile your kernel with ext3 support and boot your box using lilo. Cheers Ivan
