On Mon, May 28, 2001 at 11:07:52PM -0700, Chris Tillman wrote: > Since boot-floppies are EOL, it probably doesn't make sense to pursue this > any further. OTOH, will we have the same problem in DI? Will there still be > binary format boot floppy images? yes, you have to boot somehow. and bootable oldworld CDROMs are impossible. the main difference is the root disk will be much smaller, mini packages are installed on it based on whats needed for that particular archetecture. > The original issue was how to instruct people to make floppies from the > floppy images supplied for powerpc, on MacOS. this will still be required for debian-installer. > I copied Ethan's instructions, which involved using ResEdit-or-equivalent > and Disk Copy. Those two programs are freely available, but not free > software by any means. suntar, which I had found thru netbsd documentation, > is also not open-source, at least since v1.3.2 many years ago. Even that > version's license is iffy, it starts out "Feel free to use the source code > of suntar or any part of it for anything you wish: " but goes on to list > numerous qualifiers to that statement. its preferable to find Free software for making the boot-floppies, but if there is none then there is none. what is NOT acceptable is distributing non-free software on the CDs or debian's ftp site. if non-free software shall be required to make floppies then the user will have to find and aquire it themselves. > I did a little experimentation with Applescript and came up with a simple > script that would accomplish the same things which Ethan's instructions did, > but in one step without needing to find ResEdit. In other words, using the > Applescript would simplify the instructions. OTOH, some Macs might have > Applescript disabled, so maybe the instructions are necessary anyway, and > then the Applescript is just a small convenience. Maybe I can work on a also keep in mind many people find 7200's in a dumpster with only macos 7.1 or so, this version does not have applescript. (which was introduced in 7.5 iirc). > free-standing (C) version of this script; but probably it would be better to > wait to see what DI looks like anyhow. At this point I think the script > causes more confusion and gnashing of teeth than it's worth. it would have to be a full C program, applescript applets contain proprietary software and cannot be distributed. that would be the best soltution IMO, write a dirt simple port of rawrite.exe or dd for MacOS. no need to fsck with the type/creator crap at all that way. > I did find an open-source alternate to ResEdit for the creator/type step, > Creator Changer 2.8.4. I also found CHOWN, which Ethan mentioned; but it has > no source. ok > -- There are MacBinary and BinHex modules for Java, under the Artistic > License, but MRJ would have to be installed. which requires very recent macos, and is non-free anyway. > -- MacPerl has some modules for both MacBinary and BinHex in > Mac::Conversions. But MacPerl would have to be installed. is MacPerl Free? though thats a rather bloated way to go. > -- MSG Demo 1.4 is a GPL'd source collection of 67 graphic effects and 60 > fades which happens to include a source module for DeBinHex. But it would > have to be packaged and compiled as a DeBinHex utility. that may be an option. this will not be a debian package, ever. since none of this will run under anything but MacOS. we are just looking for a Free utility to allow BootX to be extracted from the CD. then again we may as well just ship bootx unpacked on the CD anyway. making debinhex a moot point. > Perhaps an option to keep in mind for the future whenever the subject of > Macbinary etc. comes up, is MacGZip 1.1.3. This is a GPL'd port of gzip > 1.2.4; it includes code to handle Macbinary (which btw credits Peter N. > Lewis MacBinary II+, but is in C - not a copy). It's only single file > decoding, though, no tar capability. yes i am aware of this utility. > I know that list was boring, but I wanted to document the search for the > list. > > Here's my suggestions (assuming this stuff is still useful for the new > installer): > 1) Revise the documentation to have the user make a floppy by: > a) Use Creator Changer 2.8.4 to change the creator and type of the image > file (add a link to the download location) > b) Use the Finder to lock the file > c) Use Disk Copy to burn the image to a floppy this seems reasonable for now. and yes this will still be necessary for debian-installer, you have to have a boot-floppy no matter what, thats the only way to boot an oldworld. > 2) Fuggedabout scripts, Mac apps in the distro, yadeyadeyade for the > immediate future. better option then this is writing/porting a very simple dd/rawrite.exe for MacOS. it shouldn't be hard to make something like this, it cam be command line only, no GUI, or just plain drag-drop no UI period. ugly is fine we don't care about MacOS any further then to get the floppies made so the installer can be booted and MacOS deleted. -- Ethan Benson http://www.alaska.net/~erbenson/
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