[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
On Wed, 19 Nov 2008, Neil Williams wrote: > On Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:46:20 +0000 (GMT) > Gordon Henderson <gordon+dcglug@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> 8MB Flash, 32MB RAM in an NSLU2.. I do wonder if it's actually >> sensible to put a "distribution" on these devices at all... > > Depends what you mean by distribution. The main appeal is being able to > apply security and critical bug fixes without reflashing the device. > >> Sure, >> it'll be nice, but why burden it with the overhead of package >> management when you can do that on a donor system and just produce >> images? > > Because package management is not an overhead, it is a benefit. It > supports development, supports testing and upgrades. > >> I might have a look at Emdebian - not seen it before (but I've not >> been looking). I build my systems using a "donor" system which I then >> copy just the files I need into an initrd.gz file - put that on a >> small ext2 partition with a kernel and lilo boot it and run it all >> from RAM.. Maybe not the most elegant way of doing things, but it >> does seem quite stable, and everything then runs from RAM without >> touching the flash device, where writes are always a concern... > > Those methods simply don't scale. Emdebian is about supporting mass > deployment of reproducible devices, not just bespoke versions. I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I am currently producing reproducable devices my way, it does scale and I am making a living out of it too. Gordon -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html