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diff --git a/build_tools/clarch/larch/docs/html/index.html b/build_tools/clarch/larch/docs/html/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8584186 --- /dev/null +++ b/build_tools/clarch/larch/docs/html/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,128 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html> + +<head> + <meta content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type" /> + <title>larch introduction</title> + <meta content="gradgrind" name="author" /> +</head> + +<body> + +<table style="text-align: left; width: 100%;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td><a href="larch_docindex.html">Table of Contents</a></td> + + <td><a href="larch_features.html">Next: Features</a></td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<br /> + +<h1><big>larch</big> – a do-it-yourself live <em>Arch Linux</em> CD</h1> + +<img style="border: 0px solid ; width: 320px; height: 320px;" alt="" src="larch1.jpg" + name="graphics1" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="10" /> +<br /><br /> + +<h2>Introduction</h2> + +<p><em>larch</em> is a collection of scripts designed around the creation and +use of live CD/DVD/USB-stick versions of <em>Arch Linux</em>. +</p> + +<p>One design aim was easy customization, so that even relatively inexperienced +users could build personalized live CDs (etc.), containing whatever packages they +wanted and with their own personal configurations. The resulting medium should +also be usable for installation purposes, so that one has a customized +<em>Arch Linux</em> installation/rescue medium. As the content can be chosen +freely, a comfortable working environment is possible - in contrast to +the rather Spartan standard <em>Arch</em> installation CD. +</p> + +<p><em>larch</em> also offers a flexible approach to building your live media. +You can use 'profiles' to determine what gets installed, and how it is +configured. The advantage of this method is that all your specifications are +kept together in a folder which can be used to rebuild the same or a similar +system at a later date. Alternatively you can do a normal <em>Arch Linux</em> +installation (if there is such a thing!) and then make a live medium from this. +You can even 'livify' your existing installation (though it might be worth +tidying it up a bit first ...). +</p> + +<p><em>Squashfs</em> offers convenient compression of the data on the CD so that +up to about 2 GB of code can be included on a 700 MB CD. <em>aufs</em> (a +'unification' file system, originally based on <em>unionfs</em>) offers +the ability to write to all directories even though +the CDROM is read-only, which allows such fancy stuff as installation +of new software packages to the running live system. Using <em>aufs</em> +you could do, say, 'pacman -S fluxbox' and <em>fluxbox</em> would be +installed. The limit to the amount of overwriting is determined by the size of +the available memory. +</p> + +<p>All this would normally be gone when you reboot as the changes are +really only stored in memory. However, thanks to various technical wizardry, it +is also possible (on suitable media) to save any changes you make while running +the live system back to the medium on shutdown. +</p> + +<p>Hardware detection is provided by the same <em>udev</em> approach as is used +in a standard <em>Arch Linux</em> system. +</p> + +<p>The <em>larch</em> project comprises several components. The scripts for +building a larch live medium are in the <em>larch</em> package, which need not +itself be installed in the live system, though it may be useful. Scripts and +data for the live environment are provided in the <em>larch-live</em> package, +which must be installed in the live system. There is also an optional installer +(<em>larchin</em>, written in python and bash, with a <em>GTK</em> interface) which +can install the live system to hard disk, providing a convenient way to install a +ready-configured <em>Arch Linux</em> system. +</p> + +<p>I have tried to maintain the distribution-independence of the +<em>larch</em> scripts, so that they can be used on other <em>GNU/Linux</em> systems - +you shouldn't need an <em>Arch Linux</em> installation in order to build a <em>larch</em> +live medium, the dependencies (e.g. <em>bash</em>, <em>wget</em>, +<em>mkisofs</em> ) should be satisfied on pretty well any <em>GNU/Linux</em> system +(and a static version of <em>pacman</em> can be downloaded). In other words, +it should not be difficult to generate your own customized <em>larch</em> +CD on pretty well any <em>GNU/Linux</em> system. +But I must admit that this feature hasn't been tested much. +</p> + +<p>As with most stuff around <em>Arch Linux</em> +it's not really designed for beginners - you should know your +way around a <em>GNU/Linux</em> system (preferably <em>Arch</em>!), and have at least a +minimal idea of running command-line stuff and editing configuration +files. In any case, I hope that the +documentation will be clear enough to help anyone who wants to exploit +<em>larch</em> to the full (feedback is welcome!).</p> + +<p><b>Requirement:</b> +You need quite a lot of space to create an <em>Arch Linux</em> live CD system - to build a +700MB CD image you'll need up to about 4GB. That is because a complete <em>Arch Linux</em> +system is installed, then a compressed ('squashed') verion is made, and then +a CD image (iso). Building for a USB-stick requires slightly less space, as the +iso-image is not built. +</p> + +<br /><br /> + +<table style="text-align: left; width: 100%;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"> + <tbody> + <tr> + + <td><a href="larch_docindex.html">Table of Contents</a></td> + + <td><a href="larch_features.html">Next: Features</a></td> + + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +</body> +</html> |