Baslinux mailing list

[<keesan2 AT cyberspace.org>]

On Wed, 7 May 2003 qwms-avib AT dea.spamcon.org wrote:

> keesan2 AT cyberspace.org wrote:
> > 
> > Would it be possible to include 'ar' in the 
> > install-to-hard-drive package for BL2?  
> 
> There is no install-to-hard-drive package for BL2.
> Perhaps you are confusing it with BL1 (which does use 
> an install-to-HD package).  BL2 is different, it uses 
> eight standard Slackware packages for the HD install.  
> That gives you a self-contained system, including the 
> standard Slackware installation utility (pkgtool).  The 
> purpose is to provide a Slackware-compatible foundation 
> which, in most cases, behaves exactly like Slackware.

I think I was confusing it with the BL2-X package.  

> 
> > It would be a lot more useful than the 1M of locale 
> > files that install themselves.
> 
> They are part of Slackware.  Personally, I have no 
> use for them, but some people like them.

You could include newbie instructions in the FAQ for removing them.

  
> > What other small utilities would other people like 
> > to see included?
> 
> People can include whatever they like (by installing
> Slackware packages or downloading add-ons).  The initial 
> eight Slackware packages are unlikely to change.  They 
> were chosen by necessity -- they are the bare minimum 
> needed for a solid Slackware foundation.  I hoped to
> use just four packages, but I kept running into error
> messages caused by missing items.  So I added the packages
> containing those items.  In the end, it came to eight
> packages.  I would prefer less.  I don't intend adding
> more.


As I mentioned earlier, I have not until now (when you said to use zless) 
noticed that bin.tgz never actually got installed (bad download) so there
cannot be too much essential in there.  Could you just pick out whatever
file or files you consider important in there (to avoid error messages)
and make your own package instead of bin.tgz?  For instance zless,
whatever was needed for pkgtool, and rpm2targz.  And also do the same for
fileutls?  And binutls (add ar and its dependency).  There is also
somewhere a sln that you can use instead of ln if you mess up your library
trying to upgrade it.  Is it possible to offer one bl2.tgz package instead
of the four that you were hoping not to need, and give people the choice
of downloading your package, or using the four complete slackware packages
(in case they have the CD)? 

I did not want to download 1M of bin.tgz (again) just to get one 3K
rpm2targz file.  And have it put 2M of things I don't need on the
computer.

I have not been using pkgtool.  It is redundant since we have installpkg
and removepkg.  Same situation as not needing modprobe when we have
insmod - which was actually a problem for me because the instructions for
setting up mdacon said you needed modprobe and telinit which we don't
have (insmod and init worked).


Maybe you could tell people they don't need bin.tgz unless they want that
one file needed for using pkgtool (you could post that one) or rpm2targz
(and post that too).  


> Cheers,
> Steven
> 
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