Recoding the configuration for live-build images (Was: Third status update about reproducible live-build ISO images in Jenkins)

Orians, Jeremiah (DTMB) OriansJ at michigan.gov
Wed Sep 1 12:28:06 UTC 2021


> Does the GNU Mes bootstrap-reducing team have a plan to replace Grub and the Linux kernel and init (and perhaps a BIOS?) with something tiny that runs on bare metal and implements a file system, the mount command, and processes?
INIT was the first thing we replaced.  https://github.com/oriansj/bootstrap-seeds/blob/master/POSIX/x86/kaem-minimal.hex0
Grub can easily replaced by bootOS  https://github.com/nanochess/bootOS
We can Run on ANY POSIX that supports the dozen syscalls we depend upon https://github.com/oriansj/stage0-posix/
And support multiple architectures (RISC-V support slowly growing)
And all of the syscalls can be replaced by functional equivalents.

The BIOS elimination/replacement work is expected when we start going into the hardware bootstrapping work but the stage0 native 
https://github.com/oriansj/stage0 work functions on alien hardware without any BIOS, firmware or microcode.

Personally I am excited about libresilicon https://libresilicon.com/ and gaining the ability for us as a community to engineer our own hardware 
and stop letting companies disappoint us with less and less free hardware year after year.

>  Such a bootstrap kernel would enable the Scheme bootstrap programs to run well enough to build gcc, then use gcc to build the Linux kernel, then boot it, and continue building.
And well documented here:
https://github.com/fosslinux/live-bootstrap

There is also a DOS port and a bare metal bootstrap in progress (which involves hand written filesystems).

So lots of fun for anyone who wants to help and lots of working pieces for those who wish to leverage the work we have already done.

-Jeremiah


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