Subject: Re: CVS commit: src/sbin/init
To: None <hubert@feyrer.de>
From: M. Warner Losh <imp@bsdimp.com>
List: source-changes
Date: 05/23/2007 20:52:00
In message: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0703240056010.11493@m2s05.vlinux.de>
Hubert Feyrer <hubert@feyrer.de> writes:
: On Fri, 23 Mar 2007, Lubomir Sedlacik wrote:
: > the point is, it's _not_ similar. as mrg mentioned it tries to solve
: > the same problem but in a different way. i am not sure it's appropriate
: > to refer to features of other operating systems in our manual pages,
: > where would it stop?
:
: Just there: I often see people ask "how can I do X in NetBSD?", and the
: answer usually is "X is not available in NetBSD, your problem can be
: solved by using Y".
:
: Pointing people with "pivot root" on their mind to the right place was the
: idea for this change.
:
: And eventually getting one less complaint that our documentation sucks...
You also have to understand what the end user wants. They want to be
able to change the root file system, as their applications see it,
just like the Linux pivot root system call. The init hack does
exactly this, from the world view of these users' application. Sure,
it uses a different mechanism to accomplish the same thing, but the
end results are the same. "The Linux 'pivot root' concept is
accomplished in NetBSD by init doing a chroot at the right time so the
effect is nearly identical, and often times exactly what the doctor
ordered."
Warner