> I don't think the boot proms will (ever) understand ffsv2.

I think you're right.  But...

> And I believe the boot prom has to understand the root filesystem.

here, I don't think you're right.  It's the bootblock code that must
grok the root filesystem.  Under the old paradigm, this means the stuff
in sectors 1 thorugh 15; under the new paradigm, it's /boot, with the
bootblock installation procedure responsible for teaching the
sector-1-to-15 code where /boot's contents are.  I think NetBSD has
used each paradigm at various times; I forget which one current uses.

> IMHO ffsv2 (as included in netbsd) has no benefits over the ffsv1
> code.

No?  They why is it there?  Or do you mean "...as the root fs"?

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