On Fri, 2004-10-29 at 12:33, Brad Boyer wrote:
> Would we be able to use the patch drivers if someone convinced
> Apple to give us permission to redistribute them? This is old,
> obsolete stuff, after all. If we could even put them in a special,
> non-free package, it could be usable.
I'll see what I can do on this. I'll start by contacting the
University's Apple Technical Support people.
>
> > Is a "free" but "floppy only" version of miboot worth the effort?
>
> Probably. It would make it possible to make bootable floppy images
> that actually work without having to change OF settings. If we had
> this support, we could legally put an image up that users could dd
> onto a floppy, stick in their Mac, and run the installer without
> needing anything else.
>
> Of course, they couldn't install a bootloader in this case without
> either booting from floppy every time or having used 3rd party tools.
Booting from floppy every time is a pain -- especially since floppies
tend to go bad (wear out, actually) over time. But it's a possible
option in the rare case when you haven't got access to any MacOS{89}
install CD.
But that's a rare situation. The most common situation is that you will
have a MacOS{8.x,9.x} CD on hand (or can buy one one cheap on e-bay).
In that case you can use BootX, and don't need (free or otherwise)
miboot unless you're a free software absolutist. Though, come to think
of it, even the absolutist will either have to live with quik's quirks
or allow Apple's non-free drivers to take up space on their system
disk. (If it helps, you can just think of them as firmware!)
I guess I'd support the effort of building a clean-room free version of
miboot, just to keep the absolutists happy (though I'm not of that
persuasion myself) if I was sure that it *would* keep them happy...
With the effort on D-I winding down, we might actually be able to come
up with the necessary talents and person-power to do the job!
Enjoy!
Rick
