Project Description

Many initramfs components have exploded in size, yet often remain static:

• Modules get updated with the kernel
• Firmware gets updated independently (linux-firmware)
  • Some drivers need big firmware files (e.g. Nouveau), that are independent of the module version.

The kernel supports loading multiple concatenated cpio files, but:

• GRUB needs to be configured to load these.
• Tools like dracut need to produce multiple files (?).

Questions:

• Digital Signatures?
• Does this work with Gummiboot/systemd-boot?
• Does this work with rEFInd?

Goal for this Hackweek

The aim is to reduce the required storage and to simplify updates.

As part of this project a tiny alternative boot environment could be developed, so that it's faster and updated independently from the OS.

Resources