initrd question

[Doug Sutherland]

Greg,

Consider this: an embedded linux system loads a ramdisk
image built using buildroot, and its root fs is in ram and 
stays there. They have alsa up and running in seconds. 
Alsa is easy because it's in the kernel and can even be 
statically included in the kernel. The applications are more
difficult, but surely doable unless there is some weird 
limit to ramdisk size. Ram is way faster than disk, and 
flash on embedded is way slower than disk. Maybe 
some day we'll all be running huge ramdisks. If we had
enough memory, why not? It would be fast. As long as
my critical files, not the system but data, are on disk 
then who cares if the root fs is corrupted,  in fact, to 
reboot an embedded linux system you press a button, 
and voila, two seconds later you're whole root fs is 
brand new, just as it was because the buildroot makes 
a nice image that loads into ram on boot.  Another 
related interesting tool is uboot bootloader, another 
embedded tool but may be relevant here. With the
uboot, you can  use command line args to load a 
ramdisk. Now if only uboot could talk hehe.

  -- Doug