Re: [PATCH 00/19] init: discoverable root partitions, a.k.a. an omittable "root=" cmdline option

Al Viro <[email protected]> Mon, 15 Jun 2026 18:04:32 +0100
Newsgroups gmane.linux.ports.riscv,gmane.linux.kernel,gmane.linux.block,gmane.linux.kernel.efi,gmane.linux.file-systems,gmane.linux.ports.alpha,gmane.linux.kernel.arc,gmane.linux.ports.arm.kernel,gmane.linux.ports.mips,gmane.linux.ports.parisc,gmane.linux.ports.ppc64.devel,gmane.linux.documentation
Message-ID <20260615170432.GW2636677@ZenIV>
On Mon, Jun 15, 2026 at 06:08:56PM +0200, Vincent Mailhol wrote:

> Tested with GRUB, which implements the LoaderDevicePartUUID EFI variable
> in its bli module [3]. With this, I was able to boot a kernel with a
> completely empty cmdline and no initrd.
> 
> [1] The Discoverable Partitions Specification (DPS)
> Link: https://uapi-group.org/specifications/specs/discoverable_partitions_specification/
> 
> [2] systemd-gpt-auto-generator
> Link: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/systemd-gpt-auto-generator.html
> 
> [3] GRUB -- ยง16.2 bli
> Link: https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/html_node/bli_005fmodule.html

So what does that thing, tied to EFI as it is, have to do with architectures where
	* firmware is rather unlike EFI
	* firmware wouldn't know what to do with GPT
	* GRUB is *not* ported to, let alone used
such as, say it, the very first one mentioned at your [1]?

Or is that conditional upon "if anyone wants to design replacement firmware
for those, and if they agree to follow our wishlist"?