Re: a study topic for advanced maintainers
On Thu, 10 Oct 1996, Bruce Perens wrote:
> E: Solve the problem in some other creative fashion.
>
I have a problem to solve that parallels the installation problem and may
provide a general solution for new installations.
First, I should point out that upgrading/installing Debian is no problem
under the current setup if you already have a Linux system running. I say
this to point out that the fundamental installation problem is centered
around the transition from a DOS based system into a Linux based one. To
that end I am only going to speak to the DOS side of the problem.
Here's the problem I wish to deal with:
I need to be able to sit down at a machine that has it's disk totaly
consumed with a DOS partition (with plenty of space on the drive) put my
CD into the CD drive, copy some files to the DOS partition and boot up
Linux (a complete system with all the tools to get on the net etc...).
Note: The CD is not manditory. The parts of the system which would be on
the CD could just as easily be downloaded into the DOS partition as an iso
image file. This makes the install possible with only net access and no
CD.
Here's how I envision the system comming up:
1. Loadlin loads a kernel and a ramdisk. The ramdisk is very small,
containing two mount points and the rest of the system directories exist
only as simlinks to files on the mount points.
2. Mount the DOS partition and the CD (or the iso image) on the ramdisk
and you have a full Linux system running.
I am somewhat vague on how the kernel mounts devices (without the mount
program being available) but since it can mount a floppy root or a ram
disk I must assume that part 2 is possible without mount being present,
even though I am quite ignorant about how this happens.
This provides several solutions at once (I like stones that kill more than
one bird at a time ;-).
1. Debian GNU/Linux can be demonstrated in a pure DOS environment without
changing any partition information on the DOS machine.
2. This provides a "full" system that can be used to install a perminant
setup on the partition of your choice without ever touching a floppy.
I know how to do step 1 of the outlined boot process, but step two eludes
me. There are additional issues here, but they are the same issues no
matter what the installation process, like: how to provide kernels that
support the various CD hardware (not forgetting the network driver
issues); as well as issues of how many flavors of install can be
supported; and certainly other things I haven't thought about yet.
I hope that someone more knowledgable than myself can explain the details
for me so that this technique can be implimented. It would give me a great
tool for use on client sites where DOS is the "defined" standard.
Feedback?
Dwarf
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