Add missing pieces (i.e., commands not in busybox) SOLVED?

[fitzhugh]

How can I add the various commands that are missing but, from what I gather, considered rather standard for linux? The most recent example I encountered is the groupadd command. This particular one is easy to do without, it just is the one that comes to mind at the moment and is just an example. I believe we are missing a number of "standard" commands due to using busybox.

Perhaps what I need to ask, in addition to the above, is how to switch from busybox to the normal way of doing things? I don't have the storage size limitations of some puppy installs, though if busybox is part of what allows puppy to run so fast I wouldn't want to switch - I'm not clear on the whole running in ram thing - seems like I've already grown puppy so much larger than the tiny footprint it came with, what with all the installs, devx_*, megapuppy.... yet it still screams, so it seems like I don't have to worry about replacing busybox with a much larger footprint (I assume) collection of commands, but I'd like to hear if this assumption is wrong.

I mostly want these so that I learn about them and not because I am really missing any great functionality that I am aware of. I could easily just switch from puppy to some other distribution, but A: puppy is so much faster than the few I've tried (ubuntu took SO long to boot! It was almost as slow as windows used to be, yet puppy with megapuppy booted very fast.), B: I'm having WAY too much fun with puppy... the community is such a huge help that I'd hate to give it up, and C: in truth, the fact that it IS incomplete, or at least doesn't have every possible option, applicaton etc. forces me to tweak and play around, which is just what I want. Ubuntu/kubuntu/Other do everything out of the box distros would leave me too ignorant. Oh, and *buntu won't allow a refresh rate above 60Hz! ACK - no way

[sunburnt]

fitzhugh; You can gather the commands you want from Debian distros or Slack. Just copy the extra commands in /bin & /sbin that Puppy doesn't have to Puppy's /bin & /sbin.
The problem is the file names will conflict with BusyBox, soooo... you'll have to rename them.
Look in Puppy's /bin you'll see: "losetup-FULL" & "cp-FULL", so just name the new commands with "-FULL" added on.
This'll allow you to run Puppy normally & call the new commands anywhere at any time.

[fitzhugh]

Edit: I managed to start, then ignore, then return to this post while Sunburnt offered the above advice. Looks like I can do the following for what is included, for nice fresh compiles (though have not tried just yet) and/or go with Sunburnt's suggestion for anything whatsoever, if I take the generalized case... just copy what I need from elsewhere. I'm so used to thinking in a windows manner (shudder) that until I looked I didn't really think of commands as, well, like, files... you know, that could be copied over, or installed, like, and, well, ok, so, I give... linux rocks. Why the HELL did it take me so long to try it again after it first failed to do anything for me??

Thanks Sunburnt!......


I think I have found at least a large part of the answer:

http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/coreutils.html

I suspect that what I was missing in general was checking out the gnu world (and gnu.org specifically) due to the common take that we are running linux, rather than gnu/linux (or gnu with linux kernel)... though I do not in any way wish to enter the debate surrounding that... I only mean to point out that gnu might be where I need to look.

I think busybox can do a lot more, depending on how it is compiled, than what is covered in gnu coreutils, and I've not checked the overlap, but it is a good start.