Baslinux mailing list

[James Miller <jamtat AT mailsnare.net>]

On Wed, 2 Nov 2005, Markus Laire wrote:

> On 11/2/05, David Moberg <davidjmoberg AT gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 11/1/05, Markus Laire <markus AT laire.info> wrote:
>
> > > Also - is BL3.32 good for this kind of project or should I consider
> > > something else? (BL1, BL2, something totally different)?
> >
> > It really depends on what you want. If you use Slackware 4 packages
> > with 7.1 kernels, you will come closest to a standard BL3 configuration.
> > You will be able to do about as much as you can without touching a
> > compiler or compromising memory requirements. However, you will see
> > some limitations. New hardware will not work with your distribution. And
> > you will not be able to take advantage of bugfixes and features which
> > have been released since those Slackwares were released. (Except
> > for binaries which you can find online.) But if that is what you want, it
> > will work fine.
>
> For this project, I don't care too much if newer hardware doesn't work
> - I just want to get as comprehensive linux as possible for those
> computers where newer distributions won't work.

I've been waiting for Steven to weigh in on this topic, but since he's not 
done so, I will pipe in.

Each version of BL has its pros and cons. BL1 and BL3 work better for the 
oldest machines--486sx and down to 386--depending on RAM and copro 
presence/absence and whether a gui is desired (something like 16MB RAM 
plus copro for gui on a 386). BL3 is best for easily getting a gui--that 
is if your video hardware is compatible with Xvesa. But even if not, there 
an xsvga package put together by Steven that can handle alot of 
non-Xvesa-friendly cards. Adding a gui to BL1 and BL2 is a bit more 
involved.

Whichever of them you use, you should include some things from the 
relevant Slackware version on which they're based. The most 
frequently-needed thing is NIC modules. So, if you use BL1, include the 
NIC modules from Slack 3.5; if you use BL2 the modules from Slack 7.1; if 
BL3 modules from Slack 7.1 (BL3 uses the Slack 7.1 kernel, but Slack 4.0 
libraries). In fact, you might want to include _all_ kernel modules, in 
case someone wants to set up some variant hardware. You should probably 
include the relevant bare.i kernel as well, since BL's custom-compiled 
kernels aren't capable of certain tasks. If you want to give folks the 
ability to set up Xwindows, you should include the various xservers from 
either Slack 3.5 (BL1), Slack 7.1 (BL2), or Slack 4.0 (BL3).

A fair amount of software has been custom compiled for BL--especially for 
BL3. Some of it is compiled statically--i.e., all relevant libraries are 
compiled into the package. These pieces of software are located at various 
places: Steven has an add-ons site, I have one, Sindi hosts some packages, 
as do David and Ron. So, if you can tell us which BL you end up wanting to 
use, we can direct you to the appropriate download site(s) for 
custom-compiled packages. Be aware that many Delilinux packages are 
compatible with BL2, so that is a place to look for extra programs if you 
go with BL2.

> I'd like to support even 8086, but that might not be possible.
> (ELKS http://elks.sourceforge.net/ is still in development)

That project has been in development for a good, long time. And in fact it 
ceased developing a good long while ago. I think it's moribund. The only 
possible hope I can see for running Linux on 286 and below might be using 
some sort of embedded Linux--presuming it's kernel is for the x86 
architecture and not ARM or something like that. But even alot of embedded 
systems are now quite a bit more powerful than the 286 and below. It seems 
interest in the 286 is virtually nil and has been for some time in the 
Linux world, and not even the 386 or 486 are considered viable platforms 
anymore. At least in the US you can't even _give_ away a 486. Same holds 
true for first generation Pentium, and I used to turn up P2's in the 
dumpster as well.

Over and out, James