Baslinux mailing list

[3aoo-cvfd AT dea.spamcon.org]

James Miller wrote:
> 
> How BL would work in this scenario remains a bit unclear: 

At the moment I tend using pkg or something similar.
The user downloads the package and executes the command
on that package.  No dependency checking.  No uninstall.

> You'd have to use one with packages built specifically 
> with uClibc.  

I plan on directing users to:
----------------------------------------------------
http://www.uclibc.org/dists/uwoody/main/binary-i386/
----------------------------------------------------

> But will they keep providing the full Debian distro 
> built with uClibc there?  

Good question.  I assume it is there long-term (same
as I assume the Slackware stuff will contine to be
available).  However, it might be a good idea to keep
our own copy somewhere (assuming the uClibc version
of BL3 ever eventuates).

BTW, even though all my main computers are sitting in
boxes, I have done some preliminary investigation on
converting BL3 (using my remaining computer -- a 486 
laptop).  First I deleted all the libraries in the BL3
/lib directory.  As expected, BL3 still boots (because
the BL3 base is statically compiled).  I then copied
over the uClibc libraries from the uClibc root_fs and
replaced some of the non-static BL3 binaries from the
Debian archive.  Many of them worked right away, but
some were dependent on additional libraries.  I was
particularly annoyed with the Debian less, which is
dependent on a very large library (nearly a megabyte) 
that I think is related to internationalization.  So 
I'm going to have to compile my own version of less 
(and some others).  However, all in all, it went pretty
smoothly.

> I'm pretty sure a swap file can be put on a FAT partition, 
> yes. That's what Knoppix does/did if it needs to be run in
> marginal RAM conditions 

BL3 comes with a preconfigured swap file that sits in 
the C:\baslin directory.  It is essential for systems 
with 4mb RAM.  You activate swap.zip by unzipping it.

> I think I would have to do just as much research as 
> you to figure out the finer points.

For a pretty good explanation:  man mkswap

Cheers,
Steven