Actually, if one is careful with how one modifies /etc/rc, one can indeed have a read-only /dev, and mount a writeable /dev during multi-user initiation. So it is -possible- to have /dev and /etc in their own, writeable partitions.
For an example of how that can work, grab any of the .iso files at the link in my sig. Take a look at the /etc/rc in it, and examine the /backups directory, too.
(Not that I would recommend it, modern flash memory does not have the write limitations of the older stuff.)
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