February 2009 - KCLUG

How often are writes to the "OS" portion of an installed Linux Distro really needed?
by Oren Beck 01 Feb '09

01 Feb '09

I am trying to understand several aspects \of how Linux "works" In the pre- X mac world they had a data and resource forking to simplify the concept. In Linux there seems to be a debate over modular Vs monolithic software architectures. What I am trying to expand my understanding of seems trivial but likely is not. It centers on which architectural path causes/needs the least writes to the core areas of what we call a "distro" I admit to being more than a bit fixated in my logic on a "distro in flash" eventual goal. The precedent I am looking back to is influenced by Apple's OS in ROM approach. Or the MP3 players which load their "OS" from a partition of their pooled flash resource into the devices working RAM area. We have several folks on list who are way better coders than most folks ever meet. I am curious to hear their comments on what if any Kernel tweaks would optimise a distro for running from flash as Puppy appears to be using. I'm NOT a low level coder, I can follow along some distance when it's presented clearly. The idea I'm targeting is to get a distro in flash that does not abuse the flash media needlessly. -- Oren Beck 816.729.3645

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Re: Undoing an update
by Craig Aldinger 01 Feb '09

01 Feb '09

Thanks to Jack and Christofer for the detailed info! Just to let all know, Ubuntu must have fielded a bit of flack as they posted a security update for the linux kernel, I downloaded it and that seems to have fixed the problems I was having. On a related note, I'm leaning strongly towards Oren's idea of having separate drives for OS and data as a means of preventing future problems. I want to be able to fiddle around with the OS without endangering all of my files and this sounds like a good way to go. Once I get another drive installed and make everything work, I'll post the details to the list. Once again, thanks! -- "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro..." Raoul Duke

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Re: Undoing an update
by Craig Aldinger 01 Feb '09

01 Feb '09

Thanks to Jack and Christofer for the detailed info! Just to let all know, Ubuntu must have fielded a bit of flack as they posted a security update for the linux kernel, I downloaded it and that seems to have fixed the problems I was having. On a related note, I'm leaning strongly towards Oren's idea of having separate drives for OS and data as a means of preventing future problems. I want to be able to fiddle around with the OS without endangering all of my files and this sounds like a good way to go. Once I get another drive installed and make everything work, I'll post the details to the list. Once again, thanks! -- "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro..." Raoul Duke

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