On Tue, May 21, 2002 at 05:04:59PM -0700, Petro wrote:
> On Tue, May 21, 2002 at 03:46:47PM -0700, Karl E. Jorgensen wrote:
> > You do have a valid point, but a statically linked root shell will not
> > always work. At least you shouldn't rely on it being sufficient...
>
> You don't rely on your airbag (no, not your local politician, the
> one in your car) being sufficent, nor your seat belt (or if you ride
> a motorcycle, your Helmet etc.), however you want them there when
> you need them, right?
Yep. As long as it is practical. It depends on how far you think is
practical. (I wouldn't rely on my politician either). At some point,
the extra effort simply isn't worth it. You seem to want to go further;
that's OK. As long as I'm not forced to.
[ snip, snip, snip ]
> > To repair such a system you may need other tools, e.g. dpkg, ar, apt-get
> > (which for the purposes of this, are rather inconveniently located in
> > /usr), mount, tar and gzip. All of which (i believe) are dynamically
> > linked.
>
> Mostly just some basic copy tools.
If you need to pick things out of .debs, then you'll need a working
dpkg. Or ar + tar ( & gzip if memory serves).
> Looks like I'm going to have to learn how to make custom debs.
If you really must, then it should be relatively easy to "apt-get
source", apply a patch, "fakeroot debian/rules binary". In fact, you
should end up with a quite small patch (depending on the package in
question); enough to at least semi-automate the process for future
versions. And you probably need your own (small-ish) debian mirror.
Correction: Relatively easy, and a relatively large amount of work...
[ snip, snip, snip ]
> > At least you should always be able to boot from the install floppies,
> > and mount/fsck your root filesystem from there. If not, then it's time
> > for you to create new boot floppies. The standard ones may not have a
> > suitable kernel if you have some esoteric hardware...
>
> You say that like I can wander over and stick a floppy in.
>
> The vast majority of my machines, and the ones I worry about are 50
> miles from here.
Point taken. But for some types of failures, you'll *have* to get out of
the chair anyway :-)
--
Karl E. Jørgensen
karl@jorgensen.com
www.karl.jorgensen.com
I'm currently out trying to find myself. If I should get back before I
return, please keep me here.
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