Hi here's my problem. I would like to install the 1.0 kernel on my computer who actually runs a 10.0 mandrake. I'd like to install this kernel with all to usual apps like cd, ls, bash of course and so on, on a small partition of my hdd. Booting it from a floppy would be ok. I just need a very small linux (text mode) with an "understandable" code ;-) .
But i don't know howto do it

- will my hardware (PIII 800) will be compatible?
- where can i get the bash, cp, ls and so on programs to make my kernel usable?
- how can i install it?? (i used to install linux in graphical mode)
- finally, is it possible to do??? ;-)

thanks for your answers

ulb

You just can't. 1.0 is really, really old and using it with a newer machine as yours won't recognize anything, processor, memories, devices.... Grab a distribution as Slackware 9.0 and make the minimal installation. Or if you are really into it, do Linux from Scratch and you'd be fine.

thanks for your answer. In fact, we are a couple a student in charge of finding a efficient way to change the linux filesystem. We don't have to create this filesystem but we are supposed, as a project, to find the files to replace and to create a kernel module with a supposed new posix-compatible fs. D'you think this would be easier to create the module for a modern kernel or for the 1.0 kernel?

Yep, to install 1.0 you would need to find an old 386 or so with a very small HDD... When I started linux I had to use a 1.3.40ish kernel to get it working on a 386 with a 1gig drive

Getting 1.0 going would be a nightmare...

But kernel 2.2 (and even 2.0) is still current - eg 2.2.26 or 2.0.40 if you wanted an old kernel for a really small install...

For what you want tho I'd look at a minimal 2.4 or 2.6 distro or linux from scratch, etc. Or just any stripped down linux. You'll want a basic build environment and the kernel source - which is all C. I don't know much about the VFS layer and how it works with the various filesystems, but if you read the linux-kernel mailing list you'll get a feel for what goes on. Also much of the kernel source is well documented...

Frankly tho you can do this just as easily with mandrake 10 if you already have it up and going. Just install the kernel source as vi the various bits of code to have a look. Much is fairly well commented. Slackware is another good choice, but you are looking at the same kernel source in the end.

The newer kernels are likely to be clearer and easier if anything as many people work on it and so I think it is clearer and better set up so each person can better understand the code...

The filesystems are in the fs/ directory of the kernel source BTW

yep thanks a lot for your advices. I think i will go for a linux from scratch. It seems very useful for what i gotta do. I got 6 months to be a filesystem master ;-) , damn i gotta work hard ;-)