[PATCH 3/3] dracut has initrd-generic-<version> instead of initrd-<version> (#519185)

[Hans de Goede]

On 09/03/2009 09:10 PM, Tom "spot" Callaway wrote:
> On 09/03/2009 02:20 PM, Hans de Goede wrote:
>> Regeneration is as easy with dracut as it is with mkinitrd, actually they
>> have the same cmdline syntax.
>>
>> The only extra step required with dracut when using pre-generated images
>> is:
>> yum install dracut
>
> Okay, so is there any reason why we don't have some sort of scriplet
> that regenerates the initrd when any of the system binaries used in the
> initrd are updated?
>

Because people really dislike non booting systems. Automatically regenerating
a very crucial part of the boot sequence is a very bad idea, as it will break
occasionally. There is a reason why we keep a backup kernel at hand at all times
and that reason is not only that sometimes a new kernel fails to work on certain
systems, but also that sometimes a new initrd fails (for example due to changes in
things it depends on).

Also for there to be a security issue, there needs to be an attack vector, and
during early userspace, there is very little attack vector, no other programs
are running, no network interfaces are up, etc.

Regards,

Hans