e2fsprogs/mke2fs: add an option "-d root-directory"

Hello folks,

I'd like to add an "-d root-directory" option for mke2fs, which is used for adding files from the "root-directory" to the filesystem after the formatting, it is similar to genext2fs, but which only supports ext2 AFAIK. it's usage example would be:

$ mke2fs -t extX -d <dir> <device>

I've done a few work on it, we can re-use the code from debugfs/debugfs.c, here are the draft implementation thoughts:

Move a part of the code from debugfs/debugfs.c to misc/util.c, for example, we will change the function do_write() in debugfs.c to:

void do_write(int argc, char *argv[])

{
	[snip];
	retval = do_write_internal();
        [snip];
}

The do_write_internal() will be defined in misc/util.c, then both debugfs.c and mke2fs.c can use it. We will do the similar thing to do_mkdir(), do_symlink() and so on.

My questions are:
1) Is the "-d root-directory" option acceptable ?
2) Is the implementation idea OK ?

Please feel free to give your comments, and I will send the patches later if this is fine.

Thanks

Robert

The biggest concern expressed here when we first discussed this was an increase in size. When you prepare patches, please include a size delta report of the binary and ensure the dependencies don't increase any more than absolutely necessary - preferably not at all.

Thanks,

Darren Hart
Intel Open Source Technology Center
Yocto Project - Linux Kernel