ACK ... but what do you think about e.g. tcpsvd (accepting incoming tcp connections), or netlink reader?
tcpsvd is precisely a super-server. That's where I would draw the line. A netlink reader probably has its place. But really, I have my own super-servers and my own netlink reader, so I honestly don't care if they're in Busybox or not, as long as I can configure them out. :P
Linux kernel including cpio to setup initramfs is around 6 to 8 MByte on modern kernel versions (complete system kernel + system tools + application scripts) ... running on a system with 64 MByte or even 16 to 20 MB. No disks at all. Boot from CD-ROM drive, then turn it of. ... but nowadays more likely boot from USB stick :) ... 256 MByte stick :) ... vintage ... 32 MB Boot partition, boot loader files + boot images + System Config, rest of stick is data storage.
[pissing contest on] Yes, that's how I built a few machines. The first one I built had 8 MB of RAM. I was still learning Unix and C at the time, and it wasn't pretty, but it was running. I still have a Soekris net4501 with a 32 MB CompactFlash card, it was my regular router for years, and I only upgraded it when I wanted gigabit ethernet at home. A complete system ran on that machine, including qmail, dnscache and a few homemade servers; the compactflash was a squashfs root filesystem, and I built it offline with my own two hands. One of the best learning experiences there is.
microcontroller ... and OS? what's that? which OS? first instruction executed by CPU after reset at address X ... that was my job world
OK, you're even crazier than the guy I'm talking about, I can give you that. ;)
Do you remember those 386SX ITX board based systems ...
Yes. *shudder* I still have a scar on my hand from building PCs with razor-sharp metal edges. And good job on dropping the hard disk and fan. I didn't get to do that before 2001 or so.
... and have you ever tried to teach an old dog new tricks? :)
I am absolutely not denying your experience or hacker status, or pretending to teach you anything. I'm just insisting that small and resource-efficient systems, even by standards from 15 years ago, can *also* be built by combining different sets of tools.
Do I know how to do it in different ways? Yes Do I like to it different? NO!!!
OK, OK, I get it. Thanks for the explanation. :) -- Laurent _______________________________________________ busybox mailing list [email protected] http://lists.busybox.net/mailman/listinfo/busybox
