Re: [GNU-linux-libre] Evaluation of ProteanOS

[Patrick 'P. J.' McDermott]

On 2014-11-21 13:35, Joshua Gay wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I would like to start the evaluation of ProteanOS to see if it meets the
> GFSD. Could you please let me know if you are able to help with this
> process and to begin sharing any problems you may have with PJ, who is
> subscribed to this list.
> 
> Thank you all in advance for any help you can provide.
> 
> Josh

Thanks Josh.

For anyone with a ThinkPad X60, X60s, X60 Tablet, or T60 laptop and a
spare hard drive, ProteanOS now supports these and can boot from either
ProteanOS's LILO boot loader or libreboot's built-in GNU GRUB.
ProteanOS can also just be installed in a directory and run under
chroot.

Instructions for installing ProteanOS in a directory under chroot or on
a PC are on the wiki [1].

To install on an unused hard drive on an X60* or T60, I recommend
running the installer on another system running Linux 3.4 or later (e.g.
Trisquel 7) with the target hard drive connected externally using a USB
dock or adapter.

First download the ProteanOS Development Kit from Git and build it [2]
(you'll need Git, GNU Autoconf and Automake, and a make utility like GNU
Make, and there's no need to install prokit after building).  Then, with
the hard drive connected, run prokit's `installers/pc` program [3].
Make sure you select the right block device, because the installer will
wipe the boot sector, write a partition table, and install ProteanOS to
the first partition.  Finally, just disconnect the hard drive, connect
it to the laptop on which you intend to run ProteanOS, and boot.

With the current linux-image in ProteanOS, booting under GRUB in the
current version of libreboot results in a read-only root file system.
This is OK, except that networking won't work and you can't install
additional packages, including source packages.  To fix that, press "e"
on the GRUB menu, append " rw" to the "linux" command, and press Ctrl-X
or F10 to boot.  This will be fixed in ProteanOS soon, and a future
version of libreboot will add " rw" by default.

There will be some error messages about a missing initrd.img, failed
device hotplugging, and failure to start ntpd.  These are expected and
harmless.

Information about copyright and license notices and about installing and
building source packages is also on the wiki [4].

Additional information about ProteanOS in general can be found in the
message [5] I sent to this list on 2014-05-16.

[1]: http://www.proteanos.com/doc/install/
[2]: http://www.proteanos.com/doc/install/prokit/
[3]: http://www.proteanos.com/doc/install/pc/
[4]: http://www.proteanos.com/doc/legal/
[5]: http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnu-linux-libre/2014-05/msg00006.html

Thanks,
-- 
Patrick "P. J." McDermott
  http://www.pehjota.net/
Lead Developer, ProteanOS
  http://www.proteanos.com/