I just loaded the boot-14.fs thing direct from:
  ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-1.4/sparc/installation/bootfs

Then I booted it and selected 'install' - and it fell over immediately
because it couldn't find things like 'awk' etc. They don't appear any place
in the image.  Am I doing something wrong - or will this be fixed?

My other problem is that once I get this installation done, my existing
binaries won't work - and nowhere can I find the 'emulators/compat13'
package.  When/where should I look?

G.