If you would relish a further challenge, there is a need for a further enhancement/boot parameter of the init script, to help Puppy meet its objectives.
Code: Select all
puppy pfix=recycle
The last point is particularly relevantBarryK wrote: Puppy Linux Mission Statement:
* Puppy will easily install to USB, Zip or hard drive media
* Booting from CD, Puppy will load totally into RAM so that the CD drive is then free for other purposes
* Puppy will be extremely friendly for Linux newbies
* Puppy will boot up and run extraordinarily fast
* Puppy will have all the applications needed for daily use
* Puppy will just work, no hassles
* Puppy will breathe new life into old PCs
Currently our new users find it very difficult/complicated to install GRUB and get their computers booting without the CD. There is also a "lockout" barrier to installing puppy on really old pc's...correct me if any of my details are not quite accurate, from my research
To boot puppy in liveCD mode you need at least 48mb of ram, to be able start the (very complicated) installer. Puppy has been reported to work on just 24mb or RAM. 32mb is a very common figure.
Many people when they try puppy, they just want to install puppy to the hard disk, and pass their cd onto someone else to use....currently many continue to use the CD because the installation (GRUB Install/Puppy Universal Installer) is so difficult to use. This stops many more people from trying puppy.
Recycling operations for charity or to avoid landfill (which many people on here use puppy for) need a way to recycle their old computer donations with a minimum of training. For them TIME is their most valuable resource. Most computers just have a single hard drive, and on older ones the data already on them is expendable....in fact its often very welcome to be able to wipe this off easily before giving the computer to a new owner. Gparted/grub config/Puppy universal installer is "overkill" for this.
An install routine in "init", triggered by "pfix=recycle", which runs before the pup_4xx is loaded into RAM would make recycling a computer very fast (and worthwhile), and bypass the minimum ram requirement on very old hardware. It would run from the console.
The script might have these steps...
1. Explain to the user/recycler what was about to happen (all data wiped), and confirm
2. Format 2 partitions - a 250mb swap, and the reminder to ext2
3. set the partition "bootable", or write to the MBR
4. Install GRUB to the hard disk
5. Copy the initrd.gz, vmlinuz, files to the hard disk from the CD
6. Ask the user to choose between a (well explained) choice of FULL or FRUGAL install, and perhaps even check the available RAM to give a recommendation.
7. If FRUGAL, copy the pup_4xx.sfs from the CD to the ext2 partition, if FULL, extract it to it.
8. Create a grub menu.lst files *with the file locations in the right place*
9. Eject the CD (this would be "nice") and ask the user to reboot
Much of the code for this already exists in the existing rc.shutdown scripts/universal installer.
I would be happy to work with you to design the screen, and the "newb english" (newblish?) needed to make it usable. I could also provide testing for it, by asking for it to be included it in the HanSamBen I am working with at the moment, plus the puppy 2.14ce "Phoenix" I will be working on.
This would make puppy available to many more people than it currently is, with a lot less "hassle". How big a pile of old computers can you image? You would save that
Many thanks for your work so far.