Re: [PATCH] Build a separate ZFS-enabled loader.zfs

On Nov 17, 2009, at 4:17 PM, John Baldwin wrote:

> This patch is a workaround to enabling ZFS support by default in the boot 
> loader.  It enables building a loader.zfs which is a ZFS-enabled loader and 
> changing zfsboot and gptzfsboot to use /boot/loader.zfs instead 
> of /boot/loader.  I have only tested that things built ok, I have not 
> boot-tested it as I don't have ZFS setup anywhere.  The patch is available at 
> http://www.FreeBSD.org/~jhb/loader.zfs/.  You will also need to copy 
> the 'loader.zfs/Makefile' file from that URL into a new 
> sys/boot/i386/loader.zfs directory after applying the patch.
If I may ask (and sorry for my ignorance, but): what problem does this workaround solve?
Isn't the whole problem with ZFS loaders the license, and because of the licence, that a ZFS-capable loader isn't built by default?
In other words: Why not use LOADER_ZFS_SUPPORT as long as you have to choose between setting an option or using a patch? Neither works out of the box, so you might as well pick the solution that already exists, no patching involved.
I can only assume I'm missing something vital. :)

(Please note: Makefiles aren't my strongest suite; I tried to figure the answer out by reading the patch, but couldn't. I wrote my first own Makefile, ~15 lines, this weekend.)

Regards,
Thomas