Linux rootimage-11 or 0.12 1

[John Zhao]

> -----Original Message-----
>Subject: RE: Linux rootimage-0.11 or 0.12 ?
>Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 09:21:09 -0600
>Message-ID: <39CF78DBFE15E141A9FE7DE61AE74D1C065654 at ctbs-hq1.hq.ctbs.net>
>From: "Brian Densmore" <DensmoreB at ctbsonline.com>
>
>Well, that doesn't sound quite right, if you can build a bootimage, you
>can build a root image. I'm not sure what you mean by rootimage-0.11 or
>0.12. I am guessing you want a root image of Linux version 0.11?

Yes, the root image distributed with bootimage 0.11 or 0.12. made by Linus
Torvalds
as he claimed in linux Install-0.11 file:
---
!		Using Linux v0.11
!		Linus Torvalds 08.12.91
!
!NOTE: Users of 0.10, please check the "changed" list before using 0.11.
!
!		Booting linux
!
!Linux-0.11 can easily be booted by getting the 2 files bootimage-0.11.Z
!and rootimage-0.11.Z from the linux archive, uncompressing them and
!writing them out to disks of the same size (ie 2 1.44M floppies or 2
!1.2M floppies)....
----

>Probably you are out of luck on that one. Although you could probably
>make one. You would have to find the base system programs needed for
>0.11 (bash, libc, etc). Build it all in a chrooted environment, and copy
>it to disk. The hard part will be finding the older versions of the base
>system.

on ftp.std.com and ftp.funet.fi, there are lots of old programs. If lucky,
maybe we can build
the old root image from those systems programs.

>If you want, I could help you build a root image if you have source for
>the root system.
>
I am a newbie of linux and don't have any idea of build a root image from
scratch. could you
please tell me something about the procedures of building ?:)

>
>Brian
>P.S. Just out of curiosity, why?

'Cause the linux kernel size becomes bigger and bigger and the size of
latest one (2.4.18) is
about 28MB in tar.gz format. It is very hard by studying the new kernel to
understand the
basic (whole) mechnism of kernel for a new linux learner. Even the kernel
1.0 its size is
also about 1.2MB in tar.gz format. Although the 0.11 or 0.12 kernel is very
small
but it can work normally accroding to the states of Linus Torvalds in his
post to comp.os.linux
many years ago.  I think its the best way for a new learner to understand
the kernel throughly
and neglect all the programs or patchs to the kernel. In addition, we can
also understand the history
of linux evolution fully.
When I studied the DOS software, I digged into ROM bios & dosbios.sys of 1.0
using the
dasm tools Sourcer.although I spent near a year doing that, I do understand
the dos system
compeletely and the high version of DOS was easy for me to undertand and
program. even
the late windows 3.1 and win95. So I think its a easy and practical way to
study linux very well.
Recently, I have collected some old version of linux distributions that
includes MCC and SLS
version and some other old versions of programs used in old linux version.
If possible we can estabblish a website named oldlinux.org to include all
the oldest things of linux.
Of course those things must be working normally on a compatible hardware
environment( e.g. on a
386/486/586 system).
Maybe this is one of the simplest way to full understand the linux os. :)

>Also you might try one of the Linux kernel developers.
>They may be able to help locate an old root image.

That's a good idea.