Bug#472055: ITP: partusb -- tweak an usb stick to become bootable, optionally install Linux

[Harald Dunkel <harald.dunkel@t-online.de>]

Package: wnpp
Severity: wishlist

partusb creates a simple partition table on an usb memory stick with
the right params for heads, cylinders and sectors/track to make it
bootable on (almost) any PC with bootable usb harddisk support.

In addition it can use debootstrap to install a base Debian or Ubuntu
System on the usb stick, add grub to it, and it provides means to mount
it for maintenance, to add and remove packages, etc.

The created Linux system is _not_ bound to the PC used for installation.

Samples (assuming /dev/sdd is the USB memory stick):

       partusb -d /dev/sdd -f --mbr -t vfat
           Install a mbr, and create a single bootable partition using the
           vfat filesystem.

       partusb -d /dev/sdd -i --swap 512
           create a labeled root and swap partition, use debootstrap to add
           a basic Linux installation, and make it bootable via grub

       partusb -l usbroot update
           update the package database on the installed system. "usbroot" is
           the default label, so the -l option could be omitted.

       partusb install gnome xserver-xorg
           install gnome and the XWindow server packages, including all depen-
           dencies.

       partusb --synaptic
           mount the usbroot partition, and run the synaptic package manager
           in a chroot

       partusb --shell
           enter a chroot shell for maintenance


#
# Copyright (C) 2008 Harald Dunkel
#
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2, as
# published by the Free Software Foundation.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.


Regards

Harri