XZ embedded bug unpacking linux-3.8.tar.xz

[Laurent Bercot]

 Hi Harald,


> 1) I like to create small self contained initramfs systems. Systems
> included in a single kernel image. So all you need to run the system is
> that single kernel image and a boot loader to start. In those initramfs
> systems i like to have only a minimum of statically linked binaries
> with a maximum of flexibility. At best there is only one binary
> containing all the utilities and the special application binaries.

 Oh, I do not deny there are good points in favour of having one
single binary; your use case is one of them. I personally build my
systems from bits and pieces, busybox being a tool among others, and
agree that the more pieces, the more work for me.
 You have to weigh the costs: my approach undeniably means more work for
the administrator, but is also more flexible. The day you need a utility
that is not included in Busybox, you will have to pack it by hand too,
so my point is that Busybox including stuff is *convenient* more than
*required*.


> 2) Comparing a utility collection box like Busybox with a tool like
> systemd really smells bad. They are two completely different things.

 The comparison was obviously over-the-top and provocative, and I'm glad
it elicited a reaction from you - but I wanted to poke at Denys, who
shares my dislike of systemd for the same reasons ;)

 However, I think the underlying question about Busybox's policy needs
to be addressed. If Busybox starts including things that are already
small and embeddable to begin with (and I think it has already started
going down this path with runit), then it becomes a one-stop-shop, a
kind of Linux distribution, and like every distribution, sooner or later
it will have to include the whole world. I would much rather have it
stick to providing replacements for "standard" utilities that really need
rewriting, along with a collection of links to other small, high-quality
utilities - do one job and do it well, as the Unix philosophy says; be a
part of the community instead of trying to be the whole community, which
is exactly the same kind of hubris systemd (as well as most distributions,
really) is suffering from.

-- 
 Laurent