[coyotos-dev] Drop multiboot module support?

[Jonathan S. Shapiro]

Following the learning experience with coymerge, I am coming to the view
that supporting multiboot modules may not be worthwhile. The module load
logic adds surprising complexity, and it would be pleasant to render
more of the startup code "boot loader neutral".

As near as I can tell, the universal practice is that the initrd image
version and the kernel version in linux are intimately connected. Given
that this is the case, and that there is no *other* evident use for
modules (ignoring Xen, which is a very funny case), I see no advantage
to storing the initrd image and the kernel image in distinct files. More
precisely: I see why this appears convenient in the context of Linux
mkinitrd, but I think that a different model where the initrd was bound
into the loadable kernel image as a loadable section would have worked
just as well.

Am I missing anything here that would motivate continued support of
modules and/or initrd?


shap