Boot: "CORE" Edition: Alternative to syslinux - saving up to ~200kB of space on FDDs.

[kkarhan]

As @landley pointed out, syslinux has perl as dependency and as per observation is consuming quite a lot of space.

So far, thanks to @sweetaibelle the following options are on the table:

• mlb - Minimal Linux Bootloader
  • doesn't support initramfs.
• tiny-floppy-loader.
  • also expects the initramfs to be embedded in the kernel, making things more complicated.
• simpleboot may be interesting.
  • it's basically a more simpler alternative to bootboot and easyboot with near-zero dependencies.
• limine-bootloader doesn't seem to be more compact than syslinux and only adds complexity when comparerd to syslinux in terms of config.

Options I've disregarded after looking into:

• LILO is kinda nope due to being abandonware.
• systemd-boot would likely need way more space than syslinux which already eats like 200kB doing nothing but yeet kernel and initramfs in memory.
  • It also requires UEFI to boot which is basically not available on vintage machines running i486 - SX and up.
• loadlin is just a chainloader requiring DOS.
  • gujin is basically a like loadlin.
  • As is masterbooter.
• AirBoot requires chainloading GRUB to boot Linux.
• u-boot is an even bigger mess than syslinux just by the looks of the README file.
• barebox which looks like a cursed mashup of u-boot and busybox with the cherry on top of mixing GPLv2-only and GPLv2-or-later code...
• wolfBoot will basically only work on select systems and is more of a "Secure Boot" aka. CensorBoot implementation which by Microsoft's own admission is not secure!

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So far mlb and tfl look promising even tho they'll require merging the initramfs.cpio.xz with the kernel into one file, thus complicating things.

[kkarhan]

OFC embedding the initramfs.cpio.xz is perfectly possible and if it should work with mlb and tfb...

[kkarhan]

blocked by:

• Kernel: Choosing the correct Network Drivers #5
• Kernel: Minimize size of bzImage [kernel] file #6
• Toybox: Choosing the right set of tools for the "CORE" Editon #7
• Tools: Choosing the right tools to integrate onto the "CORE" Edition floppy. #8

as dependencies

[kkarhan]

FACT: the CORE version targets i486SX and up booting a 1.440 kB 3,5" FDD via BIOS/MBR, not UEFI/GPT !