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DetaolB v0.3 is released

DetaolB v0.3 is being released 14th,June 2007 on sf.net
=> http://detaolb.sf.net

- this is mostly a release with tons of added features
- this is mostly a proof of concept
- this is not a bugfix release
- your feedback will shape it into v1.0 someday, so please post
at the DetaolB mailing list: detaolb-devel@lists.sourceforge.net

Changelog:

- it's bigger now: ~17Mb, but it's still smaller than slax-frodo :)
- you can still log using root with no password (this will change)
- kernel 2.6.21 with following patches...
* acpi, ide/atapi drivers added
* /proc/miniconfig.gz: main ideas from Rob Landley, need documentation
* aufs: another unionfs
* squashfs
* lzma vmlinux: a great thanks to Ming Ching Tiew!
* complete git patches released on sf.net
- still based on initramfs early userspace, now using switch_root
* 1st phase is using a minimal static bbox
* 2nd phase is mounting cdrom and 5 squashfs modules in aufs new root.
This is a common scheme inspired by slax, yet simplified for speed.
* 3rd phase is root switching and over to standard init phase
* main drawback: changes to the rootfs are lost if you reboot. I've
not figured out a smart way using initramfs+aufs+squashfs and
access rootfs changes from RAM...
* but it's still blazing fast even in qemu!
- 5 default squashfs modules are present and enabled
* "barebone" is busybox-1.6.0 with rootfs config files + mksquashfs
* "uclibc" is uClibc-0.9.29 + zlib
* "ncurses" is ncurses-5.2, needed for uclibc/bbox/kernel compilation
* "toolchain" is needed for C compilation
+ gcc-3.4.6
+ binutils-2.16.1
+ bash-3.2
+ bison-2.1
+ flex-2.5.33
+ make-3.81
+ misc. coreutils mandatory for uclibc/bbox/kernel compilation
* "vim" is a full vim-7.1 installation
* these modules were compiled using DetaolB v0.3, and config files
for uclibc and busybox are inside /root
* "git" is compiled but not included yet
- a 2.6.17 version of DetaolB v0.3 exist for colinux! it'll be
available on demand, or will be released anyway at version 1.0

HOW TO USE IT ?

- use your favorite emulator: qemu, virtualbox, even vmplayer!
- you need to provide an hda image preformatted in ext2 if you want
to work on a non-volatile area (busybox has no more ext2fs tools ??)
- boot it, do some compilation, enjoy it
- please note it has no network capabilities
- this distro is not meant for real hardware yet (but it will be soon)

FEEDBACK, QUESTIONS, INSULTS, POSTCARDS:

christian.michon@gmail.com

Posted by Christian MICHON 2007-06-14

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