Re: Embedded Debian (was: compaq iPaq)
>
> 2. Generation
> -------------
>
> I can imagine many different ways of building the operating system image.
>
> The one I'll be working on initially is a "Snarf 'n' Pick" implementation.
> Basically it will work by snarfing Debian packages and picking subsets of
> files from the packages. To my understanding, boot-floppies works in a
> similar way to create rescue disks.
>
> Thoughts?
>
Frank,
I think the OS-builder app is a great idea.
Would its "raw material" be pre-compiled debian binary packages or would
it be able to build the system from source. Unless there were separate
embedded .debs, I don't know that the standard binaries would be compact
enough to support limited memory/storage environments. Take busybox.
Based on the build instructions, the app would modify busybox.def.h and
build the binary to contain only the commands/features that were
necessary. In many cases, the standard .debs would probably be fine, but
in some cases you would need more control over the build.
An added benefit would be if the "OS-builder" were modular and extensible
enough to not only configure which packages are to used but to configure
the packages themselves. Lets say you were including apache (more likely
boa!), you would be able to specify the initial document root and other
essential variables.
-mdf
________________________________________________________________________
Matthew D. Franz mdfranz@io.com
Trinux: A Linux Security Toolkit http://trinux.sourceforge.net
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