Yes, I've always had a known-good fallback. So I actually do duplicate the
lines and leave unchanged versions in /etc/grub.conf for when things go
wrong.
But my point is, I really want to change just the kernel. I don't want to
care what the initrd does, and I don't want to build my own. It's all
"user space" to me - and thus beneath my notice.
And the module loading bug was just that - a kernel bug.
Linus
--