easylinux2linux

Assume you have a linux box with an outdated linux.

You would like to perform an upgrade, but you would like to avoid burning a CD or even making a bootable USB flash. The machine may even be somewhere where you do not even have physical access.

You already have a running kernel and a working network connection. Why not use them to get your new linux running directly?

Many distributions already provide a network install but getting the installer to run on your old linux proves tricky because you depend on local libraries and tools.

Why not rely instead only on the linux kernel? You unpack a minimal set of tools to a separate directory, you chroot to it and start from a well defined configuration that can get you to your destination.