Re: How to manually install minimal system
On Mon, 16 Nov 1998, Kent West wrote:
> I've spent the last couple of days searching the web for this, but no
> luck.
>
> Does anyone know where I can find info to manually build a linux system
> (software, not hw) from scratch? I want to do this for the learning, not
> for usability.
Actually, that's not true. I want to eventually have a usable system, but
I want to build it myself, not let an install script do it for me. As part
of this process I'll also become somewhat familiar with compiling programs
and setting them up manually instead of using .deb files and dselect/apt,
etc.
> Details:
> In the DOS world, I know that you have to fdisk and format and have two
> special files in the boot sector region of your boot disk as well as a
> command.com (which can be thought of as a kernel). I know that config.sys
> adds functionality to the "kernel" and autoexec.bat is a "script" that
> runs at startup. I know that Windows then loads on top of that. Etc.
>
> What I want to do is basically have the same level of knowledge about the
> Linux boot process. The best way I know to do this is to do it manually.
> I've already fdisk'd and mkefs'd my hard drive (after booting off a
> floppy). Now I need to copy the Linux kernel to the hard drive in the
> proper place and see if I can boot off the hard drive (but can I use the
> floppy and tell it where to find the kernel?. Do I need to run lilo to get
> the boot sector set up? Do I have to have an init file and/or rc scripts,
> etc? (for a usable system, "yes", but remember, I don't care about
> usability so much as I care about a bare minimal functionality, even if it
> only lets me boot and do an ls or cat or cp, etc).
>
> Any pointers to this kind of info would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
>
--
Kent West
kent.west@infotech.acu.edu
KC5ENO - Amateur Radio: When all else fails.
Linux - Finally! A real OS for the Intel PC!
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