If you remember the mail thread about static compiling a couple of weeks ago, it was part of my own toying around about making a similar distro, but in a smarter way: Rather that spreading the distro itself (half a giga), I thought about writing a (perl) script, which automatically creates such a distro, based upon files that already exist on the system, that the script is running on.
I saw the following two steps:
1. Create a "floppy disk image" that is needed for El-Torito boot CD's. That image needs to include a small kernel, and a very small RAM disk image, which includes only one executable (diet-statically linked): init (or linuxrc?). Kernel copied from /boot, RAM disk image created ad-hoc.
2. Create a CD image, which includes a selected list of files and/or paths (this list should be easy to alter). Not all files are taken directly from the system, but I suppose that 90% of the files can be used as is.
Now, about the init executable: (possibly based upon the source of one of the existing demo distros):
(a) Mount the CD (by attempting a list of possible /dev/hd* and friends).
(b) chroot so that the CD is "/"
(c) execute the new root's init -- this would start a "normal boot"
Now, since CD images are mountable as loop devices, it's possible to test if the distro works without actually burning a disc.
As for the "init", it has to be compiled on the current system, so that the statically linked "init" will work with the kernel. So compiling "init" specially is necessary per kernel.
I don't have the time to do this myself right now, but if this idea makes someone's fingers itch, there might be a nice outcome.
Eli
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Haifa Linux Club Mailing List (http://www.haifux.org) To unsub send an empty message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
