>>>>> Thomas Bushnell, BSG writes: TBB> It is pretty important that we make it possible for people to TBB> install Debian GNU/Hurd without having to first install TBB> GNU/Linux.
Agreed. What this entails is ``porting'' the Debian boot-floppies package to use gnumach and the Hurd. The basic plan is to integrate GRUB into the installation process, and eliminate the steps that are irrelevant to the Hurd (choosing charset, choosing device modules, installing lilo, etc). TBB> Is someone working on this? This will become a priority for me as soon as Marcus releases the next base-set. At that time, I'll be looking closely at boot-floppies to see what needs to be done. I'm waiting for the next base-set because it'll be a stable development platform (my Hurd is dead), and I'd prefer to do the work natively (I'm sick of cross-compilers). TBB> Is there a volunteer willing to take it on? If somebody wants to do it, they will need a solid understanding of GRUB, and have to be prepared to hack on it to make the installation process work nicely. OKUJI has many plans for how to do this properly, and I have a few ideas as well. If you (dear reader) are serious about helping us with GRUB, then download the latest CVS tree (http://www.gnu.org/software/devel.html#CVS), and send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (subject ``subscribe''). You should also look in the `release' subdirectory of the Hurd CVS tree, to see the start at boot floppies that Miles Bader started working on. Finally, UCHIYAMA patched GRUB, /boot/serverboot, and /hurd/exec to make them understand bzip2 compression. I'd like to make a similar patch to the boot-floppies package, which will benefit all Debian users in reducing the number of floppies required to install a base system. Please send me mail if you want to help in any of these tasks, -- Gordon Matzigkeit <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> //\ I'm a FIG (http://www.fig.org/) Committed to freedom and diversity \// I use GNU (http://www.gnu.org/)
