Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!ukma!psuvm.bitnet!cunyvm!ndsuvm1!ndsuvax!ncoverby
From: ncoverby@ndsuvax.UUCP (Glen Overby)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Ack!  Where can I find a ST-minix SRC1:fs/SRCZ.a ?
Message-ID: <2119@ndsuvax.UUCP>
Date: 12 Feb 89 23:37:20 GMT
References: <9132@megaron.arizona.edu> <2026@ast.cs.vu.nl>
Reply-To: ncoverby@ndsuvax.UUCP (Glen Overby)
Organization: North Dakota State University, Fargo
Lines: 21


In article <2026@ast.cs.vu.nl> ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) writes:
>I had considered having the distribution produced using diskettes that were
>permanently write protected (i.e., a jacket with no notch in it), but this
>would make it impossible to run, thus requiring you to backup the disks first.
>I decided that since various copy programs might or might not work on MINIX
>disks, it was better to make all the disks writable.  If there is mass
>sentiment for using non-notched jackets next time, I'll do it. Notches +
>write-protect tabs is not one of the options in this price range.  Neither is
>a mixed solution of partly notched, partly not.

I do not see why Minix cannot run off of a set of completely write-protected
disks.  The root filesystem is loaded into the RAM disk, and there is no
reason that any other filesystems need to be written to.  The shipped
/etc/rc would have to be changed to mount the /usr disk "-r", and /usr/adm
should not exist (to keep init (or is it login?) from opening and writing to
/usr/adm/wtmp).

I havent tried any of this yet so I could easily be missing something...

Glen Overby     ncoverby@plains.nodak.edu
uunet!ndsuvax!ncoverby
ncoverby@ndsuvax (Bitnet)