Get idea from slax/porteus/minios and haiku

[mazbrili]

Dear All

I have idea to turn gobolinux into slax/porteus/minios , right now i still learn about slax initramdisk.. etc.
for your info slax -> https://www.slax.org/internals.php
my plan is use my installed gobolinux 17.01 as base the goal is smaller download iso ,more easier to install (frugal mode) and more ..

--rough step maybe like this

1. Understand the Goal

• Porteus/Slax use a series of compressed modules (e.g., 00-kernel.xzm, 01-core.xzm) that are layered at boot, forming the complete system.
• GoboLinux already has a modular filesystem, but not in the compressed, layerable module sense .

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2. Prepare the GoboLinux Base

• Install GoboLinux to a working directory or a minimal partition.
• Strip the system down to the essentials (kernel, init, core utilities).

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3. Create SquashFS Modules

• For each desired module (kernel, core, Xorg, desktop, etc.), create a directory tree containing only the relevant files.

  • Example structure:

    /workdir/00-kernel/
    /workdir/01-core/
    /workdir/02-xorg/
    /workdir/03-desktop/
    

• Copy the relevant files from your GoboLinux install into these directories.

• Create SquashFS modules:

  mksquashfs /workdir/00-kernel 00-kernel.sqfs
  mksquashfs /workdir/01-core 01-core.sqfs
  mksquashfs /workdir/02-xorg 02-xorg.sqfs
  mksquashfs /workdir/03-desktop 03-desktop.sqfs
  

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4. Set Up the Boot Process

• Use an initramfs or custom init script to:

  • Mount the root filesystem as tmpfs or overlayfs.
  • Sequentially mount each module (in order) to the root using mount -o loop.
  • Use overlayfs to layer modules, so later modules can overwrite files from earlier ones.

  Example (in init script):

  mount -t tmpfs tmpfs /mnt/live
  mkdir /mnt/live/00-kernel
  mount -o loop 00-kernel.sqfs /mnt/live/00-kernel
  mkdir /mnt/live/01-core
  mount -o loop 01-core.sqfs /mnt/live/01-core
  # ...repeat for other modules...
  
  # Use overlayfs to combine them
  mount -t overlay overlay -o lowerdir=/mnt/live/00-kernel:/mnt/live/01-core:/mnt/live/02-xorg:/mnt/live/03-desktop,upperdir=/mnt/live/changes,workdir=/mnt/live/work /mnt/merged
  

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5. Persistence Layer

• Create a writable upper layer (e.g., /mnt/live/changes) for user changes, so the base modules remain read-only.

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6. Boot Into the Modular System

• Point the kernel’s root to /mnt/merged (the overlay mount).
• Continue booting as normal.

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7. Add/Remove Modules

• To add software, create a new module (e.g., 04-office.sqfs) and add it to the boot sequence.
• To remove, simply omit the module from the list.

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8. Automate and Document

• Write scripts to automate module creation and boot layering.
• Document which files go into which module for maintainability.

---

Example Module List

Module Name	Contents
00-kernel.sqfs	Kernel, modules, firmware
01-core.sqfs	Core utilities, init, shells
02-xorg.sqfs	Xorg, drivers
03-desktop.sqfs	Desktop environment, apps
04-office.sqfs	Office suite

---

Notes

• This approach leverages GoboLinux’s modular philosophy and brings it closer to the live, layerable module system of Porteus/Slax .
• You can use .xzm or .sqfs as the module extension; both are SquashFS images.

so next i want more asking on kernel/compile issue ..

best regards

[nuc1eon]

Thanks for sharing, it is the first time I hear about Slax but it does look interesting!

I am not sure of your use case right now, but then, I am working on other things atm.

All in all it sounds good, please go ahead and feel free to ask any qustions or report issue during the process :)