[arch-general] arch-general Digest, Vol 112, Issue 26

[Hugo Rabson]

> On Feb 22, 2014, at 22:48, arch-general-request at archlinux.org wrote:
> 
> Are you trying to build a full-featured Live desktop environment for
> chromebooks?

I'm thinking about it, but I'm not sure if it's needed.

I've written one script to generate an ArchLinux|ARM bootable USB/SD card-based installation; another, to generate a Debian installation. In each case, it goes from shell command to usable installation in about half an hour. It works for the Samsung Chromebook (ARM 7-based). It might work for other ARM-based systems; I don't know.

In each case, the OS is installed on an external device, which means it is awfully close to being a "live CD" (not a CD, but you get the point). The principal advantage of a 'live' device would be non-permanence of user data.

I've had a look at porting Tails to the ARM platform. It would be nontrivial, but it could be done. Still, I'm happier with the idea of working with ArchLinux, not Debian (or Tails). ArchLinux's kernel sources are available and easy to modify (by me), whereas I've had no luck with Debian's kernel.

If the root partition of the device is encrypted, do we really need it to be 'live' at all? Does anyone actually want a live version of ArchLinux for ARM systems, or would a freely available and easy-to-build-at-home external SD card or thumb drive do? What is the problem we're trying to solve? Depending on our objective - privacy, disaster recovery, or merely mucking about with a Chromebook without nuking its internal drive - we might not need the live capability.

Comments?

-Hugo