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From: sja@tekla.fi (Sakari Jalovaara)
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Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 19:36:12 +0300
Message-Id: <9610241636.AA18058@poveri.tekla.fi>
To: hackers@FreeBSD.org
Subject: Re: root only: (was Re: comments on this change please.)
Sender: owner-hackers@FreeBSD.org
X-Loop: FreeBSD.org
Precedence: bulk

If I understand correctly, the main reason for wanting a read-only
root partition is that then we'd have a not-easily-corrupted partition
for booting.

Instead of moving most of /etc out of /etc, how about approaching the
"problem" by trying to pick the set of files that are needed for
booting before mounting /usr.

Move a few files out of /etc into /sbin or wherever (first few lines
of /etc/rc, network initialization for diskless systems, a file that
tells where to fsck&mount /usr from).  (/setc?  Yecch.)

Most of /etc could then be left as it is, except it would live in
/usr (or /var?).  /etc would be a symlink to /usr/etc.

Booting would look like:
	mount /
	run /sbin/mother-of-all-rc's  -- which does the rest:
	run ccdconfig
	fsck /usr
	mount /usr
	run /etc/rc (which is like now except it doesn't run fsck.)
									++sja