Re: PR/39728 CVS commit: src/usr.sbin/installboot

[Alan Barrett <apb%cequrux.com@localhost>]

The following reply was made to PR port-sparc/39728; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: Alan Barrett <apb%cequrux.com@localhost>
To: gnats-bugs%NetBSD.org@localhost
Cc: 
Subject: Re: PR/39728 CVS commit: src/usr.sbin/installboot
Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:15:05 +0200

 On Sun, 12 Oct 2008, der Mouse wrote:
 >  With apb's changes, the only thing left to do here is to lift the
 >  restriction-by-fiat on /boot being directly in the root directory;
 >  there's no reason it can't be anywhere in the filesystem.  (I suspect,
 >  currently without evidence, that this is for code convenience, so
 >  installboot doesn't have to be able to do a full path walk.
 
 In the case of primary boot loaders that contain a list of file system
 block numbers for the secondary boot loader, the restriction that the
 second stage boot loader must be in the root directory does indeed
 appear to be purely for the convenience of installboot(8).
 
 Some primary boot loaders may have other restrictions; for example the
 i386 bootxx_ffs* primary boot loaders expect to find the secondary boot
 loader in a file named "boot" in the root directory, and this is not
 configurable.  (See PR 39736)
 
 --apb (Alan Barrett)