Hey Linus,

/* Summary */

Remove classic initrd linuxrc support

  Remove the deprecated linuxrc-based initrd code path and related dead code.
  The linuxrc initrd path was deprecated in 2020 and this series completes its
  removal. If we see real-life regressions we'll revert.

  The core change removes handle_initrd() and init_linuxrc() — the entire flow
  that ran /linuxrc from an initrd, pivoted roots, and handed off to the real
  root filesystem. With that gone, initrd_load() becomes void (no longer
  short-circuits prepare_namespace()), rd_load_image() is simplified to always
  load /initrd.image instead of taking a path, and rd_load_disk() is deleted.
  The /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev sysctl and its backing variable are
  removed since they only existed for linuxrc to communicate the real root
  device back to the kernel. The no-op load_ramdisk= and prompt_ramdisk=
  parameters are dropped, and noinitrd and ramdisk_start= gain deprecation
  warnings.

  Initramfs is entirely unaffected. The non-linuxrc initrd path
  (root=/dev/ram0) is preserved but now carries a deprecation warning targeting
  January 2027 removal.

/* Testing */

gcc (Debian 14.2.0-19) 14.2.0
Debian clang version 19.1.7 (3+b1)

No build failures or warnings were observed.

/* Conflicts */

Merge conflicts with mainline
=============================

diff --cc Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
index aa0031108bc1,f67591615a6a..000000000000
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
@@@ -3472,13 -3437,6 +3472,11 @@@ Kernel parameter
                        If there are multiple matching configurations changing
                        the same attribute, the last one is used.

 +      liveupdate=     [KNL,EARLY]
 +                      Format: <bool>
 +                      Enable Live Update Orchestrator (LUO).
 +                      Default: off.
 +
-       load_ramdisk=   [RAM] [Deprecated]
-
        lockd.nlm_grace_period=P  [NFS] Assign grace period.
                        Format: <integer>

Merge conflicts with other trees
================================

The following changes since commit 8f0b4cce4481fb22653697cced8d0d04027cb1e8:

  Linux 6.19-rc1 (2025-12-14 16:05:07 +1200)

are available in the Git repository at:

  git@gitolite.kernel.org:pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/vfs/vfs tags/vfs-7.0-rc1.initrd

for you to fetch changes up to ef12d0573a7f5e7a495e81d773ae5f3e98230cd4:

  Merge patch series "initrd: remove half of classic initrd support" (2026-01-12 17:22:27 +0100)

----------------------------------------------------------------
vfs-7.0-rc1.initrd

Please consider pulling these changes from the signed vfs-7.0-rc1.initrd tag.

Thanks!
Christian

----------------------------------------------------------------
Askar Safin (3):
      init: remove deprecated "load_ramdisk" and "prompt_ramdisk" command line parameters
      initrd: remove deprecated code path (linuxrc)
      init: remove /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev

Christian Brauner (1):
      Merge patch series "initrd: remove half of classic initrd support"

 Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt |  12 ++-
 Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst     |   6 --
 arch/arm/configs/neponset_defconfig             |   2 +-
 include/linux/initrd.h                          |   2 -
 include/uapi/linux/sysctl.h                     |   1 -
 init/do_mounts.c                                |  11 +--
 init/do_mounts.h                                |  18 +---
 init/do_mounts_initrd.c                         | 107 ++----------------------
 init/do_mounts_rd.c                             |  24 +-----
 9 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 160 deletions(-)