Alfalinux is a unique minidistribution that fits onto two floppy disks, offering a distinct alternative to other comparable solutions.
Alfalinux is a two floppy disk mini-distribution that is quite different from other similar products. This is because there are no non-standard/reduced or remade system parts, no bad overformatted floppy disks, or anything similar to other mini distributions. With Alfalinux, you will find a STANDARD portable Slackware on two floppy disks, with a real Linux system that loads itself in RAM.
The system has only standard applications (such as bash or lynx) and is designed to be easily personalized, just like your home system. The basic configuration to use Alfalinux is a 486 with at least 8 MB of RAM. However, note that with less than 12 MB, you might only be able to load the first base floppy without additional and network apps stored in the second.
The system is divided into two floppy disks. On the first, you find files for Syslinux (the Linux loader), a kernel, and the compressed base filesystem initrd.gz. At the startup file, the kernel mounts it as the root filesystem. In the second floppy, there is the gzipped tar archive netdata.tgz, which contains network programs, libncurses, key layouts, and many other additional system parts (not required for the correct usage of the system).
The netdata script on the second floppy creates the second ramdisk and unpacks the netdata.tgz archive in the system mounted at /usr/bin. To personalize the system, you can modify the base filesystem initrd.gz, add your parts in the netdata archive, or create your new archives. You can also copy files to the second floppy disk and modify the netdata script to copy files on the floppy into the system (at boot time).
As an example, suppose we want to modify/create the scripts for internet connection. In that case, we have to update /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/ppp/options, /etc/ppp/pap/chap-secrets, /bin/connect, and /bin/chatscript. Once we have prepared the updated scripts, save them on the second disk and append them to the netdata script, with a sequence to delete and replace the old scripts with new ones at startup. This way, you have a personalized system that loads at startup from the floppy.
Please remember that Alfalinux doesn't mount local filesystems at startup (only the floppy disks, but you can insert it write-protected). So it's an absolute secure system because it's loaded into RAM memory and doesn't need any installation procedure.
To install Alfalinux, first unpack the archive by typing "tar xvfz filename." Then, from msdos/OS2/windows, type "rawrite alinuz1.img a:" and "rawrite alinuz2.img a:". From Linux, type "dd if=alinuz1.img of=/dev/fd0" and "dd if=alinuz2.img of=/dev/fd0".
What's new in this release is that vi, cat, pwconv & unconv, as well as several other parts, have been added. The organization on the floppies has been modularized and optimized, and commands to handle kernel modules have been included. There is now a more compact and optimized standard filesystem organization, and you can use Alfalinux -base- on machines with only 8 MB of RAM. Plugin system-part support has also been added so that you can create your system modules
The system has only standard applications (such as bash or lynx) and is designed to be easily personalized, just like your home system. The basic configuration to use Alfalinux is a 486 with at least 8 MB of RAM. However, note that with less than 12 MB, you might only be able to load the first base floppy without additional and network apps stored in the second.
The system is divided into two floppy disks. On the first, you find files for Syslinux (the Linux loader), a kernel, and the compressed base filesystem initrd.gz. At the startup file, the kernel mounts it as the root filesystem. In the second floppy, there is the gzipped tar archive netdata.tgz, which contains network programs, libncurses, key layouts, and many other additional system parts (not required for the correct usage of the system).
The netdata script on the second floppy creates the second ramdisk and unpacks the netdata.tgz archive in the system mounted at /usr/bin. To personalize the system, you can modify the base filesystem initrd.gz, add your parts in the netdata archive, or create your new archives. You can also copy files to the second floppy disk and modify the netdata script to copy files on the floppy into the system (at boot time).
As an example, suppose we want to modify/create the scripts for internet connection. In that case, we have to update /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/ppp/options, /etc/ppp/pap/chap-secrets, /bin/connect, and /bin/chatscript. Once we have prepared the updated scripts, save them on the second disk and append them to the netdata script, with a sequence to delete and replace the old scripts with new ones at startup. This way, you have a personalized system that loads at startup from the floppy.
Please remember that Alfalinux doesn't mount local filesystems at startup (only the floppy disks, but you can insert it write-protected). So it's an absolute secure system because it's loaded into RAM memory and doesn't need any installation procedure.
To install Alfalinux, first unpack the archive by typing "tar xvfz filename." Then, from msdos/OS2/windows, type "rawrite alinuz1.img a:" and "rawrite alinuz2.img a:". From Linux, type "dd if=alinuz1.img of=/dev/fd0" and "dd if=alinuz2.img of=/dev/fd0".
What's new in this release is that vi, cat, pwconv & unconv, as well as several other parts, have been added. The organization on the floppies has been modularized and optimized, and commands to handle kernel modules have been included. There is now a more compact and optimized standard filesystem organization, and you can use Alfalinux -base- on machines with only 8 MB of RAM. Plugin system-part support has also been added so that you can create your system modules
What's New
Version 0.3.1: N/A