On Wed, Aug 09, 2000 at 09:50:13AM -0700, Ross Harvey wrote:
> > From: NetBSD Bob <nbsdbob@weedcon1.cropsci.ncsu.edu>
> > install (for example, having base/etc/kern files present)?  That would
> > allow the heavy user (not the usual one machine person that should buy
> > the full release distribution set, but the folks like me that follow
> > along the various snapshots and builds and releases for certain machines
> > and features only), to have a simple bootable system disk for generic
> > use.
> >:::
> 
> AFAIK only alpha has cdhdtape, so I will ID it for the crossposted
> readers...it's a bootable sysinst image that can be written (with dd(1) or
> equivalent) to either CD, hard drive, or tape (or 2.8 MB floppy, probably);
> i.e., the same thing that's on the two-floppy sysinst disk used by alpha
> and i386.

Well, I personally think an install tape for the Alpha would be "cool", but
I don't know how popular it would be. I mean, I used to have an Exabyte
8200 on my Alpha but I plugged the tape drive in one day and the blue smoke
came out of it (I'm sure everyone knows that electronic equipment runs on
blue smoke, right?).

We do have the ability to make a CD-ROM that will boot on multiple
platforms. It isn't a sysinst disk in particular, "but"...


Last time I read the documentation the process of making a multi-platform
boot CD was dependent on having all of the platforms available so things
like installboot could be run. What would be involved with merging all
the installboot progs together? What else would be needed (other than
some scripting) to have process of building a multi-platform CD automated?

It would be very cool to have the ability to do an install for a platform
from any other platform. What else would need to be merged? Um, disklabel
(big can of worms there), MAKEDEV, anything else?


(BTW, can we take this to current-users?)
-- 
Kevin P. Neal                                http://www.pobox.com/~kpn/

 "Good grief, I've just noticed I've typed in a rant. Sorry chaps!"
                            Keir Finlow Bates, circa 1998