CONFIG_RAMFS disappears in 2.6.24???

kushalkoolwal · 03-10-2008, 10:21 PM

Hi,

I just noticed that the option CONFIG_RAMFS (which is generally hidden) is not there anymore in 2.6.24 release. Any ideas, why? I searched for a reason on the Internet but with no avail

For 2.6.23

Code:

root@debian:~/Development/kernel_diff# cat config-2.6.23 | grep RAMFS
CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE=""
CONFIG_RAMFS=y
CONFIG_CRAMFS=y
root@debian:~/Development/kernel_diff#

For 2.6.24

Code:

root@debian:~/Development/kernel_diff# cat config-2.6.24 | grep RAMFS
CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE=""
CONFIG_CRAMFS=y
root@debian:~/Development/kernel_diff#

This option is under:
File Systems-> Pseudo File Systems-> RAMFS

You will have to go to Options->Show All Options to see the above RAMFS option under make xconfig.

Any idea why the removed it?

sundialsvcs · 03-12-2008, 08:38 AM

That's not really that unusual. Options change names and are removed from time to time. make oldconfig will make those replacements, and they're well-documented if you google it.

Sometimes, a feature is entirely deprecated and removed from the kernel sources. Sometimes, it is supplanted by a new feature with the same or a different implementation.

kushalkoolwal · 03-12-2008, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sundialsvcs

That's not really that unusual. Options change names and are removed from time to time. make oldconfig will make those replacements, and they're well-documented if you google it.

Sometimes, a feature is entirely deprecated and removed from the kernel sources. Sometimes, it is supplanted by a new feature with the same or a different implementation.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I do understand that. I was more interested in looking up for the reason to remove it. I tried hard to search for it but could not find it. May be I should try harder?

Also, does anybody know why some of the options in make xconfig are "grayed-out"?

ararus · 03-12-2008, 03:24 PM

Not certain why, I would imagine it's just because it's been superceded by tmpfs.

Quote:

Also, does anybody know why some of the options in make xconfig are "grayed-out"?

Presumably, they have some dependency that is disabled (the help text often tells you what, but not always).