On Fri, 1 May 2009 09:58:03 -0700 David VomLehn <dvomlehn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 02:54:12PM -0700, Andrew Morton wrote: > > On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:19:34 -0400 (EDT) > > Alan Stern <stern@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > > > > I wonder if we can think of something more new ad unique. startupdev? yuk. > > > > > > Initdev? Or does that mean something else also? > ... > > initdev sounds good to me. Given that we're adding a new and distinct > > concept which will remain with us for a long time, we should name it > > with care. > > Yes, we do need a good name, so we are now guaranteed to be entering > the Bike Shed Zone. Getting the name right is important! We live with the decision daily, for years. > Personally, I'm fine with initdev and will assume this > is the name going forward. I'll tweak the patches appropriately. OK. > > > Really, these are devices that we want to have working before starting > > > up any userspace processes. These would be the console device(s) (so > > > that the first process has open files for its stdin, stdout, and > > > stderr) and the block device containing the root filesystem (if the > > > initramfs image doesn't make its own arrangements). > > > > OK, so "initdev" could be viewed as meaning "a device which /sbin/init > > needs"? Even I can understand that. > > > > But /sbin/init isn't the first userspace we run, is it? There's > > initramfs stuff, firmware loaders, etc. > > > > What's the story here? Do we intend that all initdevs be up and > > running before _any_ userspace runs? Or is /sbin/init the red line? > > I've avoided making any guarantees about this, but /sbin/init is implicitly > the red line. If we make this explicit, we're probably back in the vicinity > of the bike shed, but this should help frame any subsequent discussion > in a concrete manner. Well, decisions which are made here can make the difference between "computer boots" and "computer doesn't boot". That ain't bikeshed painting. -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-usb" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
