Ken Teh wrote:
> I recommend using a live CD distro.  This may or may not apply to you 
> but typically an embedded system is something you want to be able to 
> switch off and on with a button.  If your embedded SL mounts a hard disk 
> partition as /, especially if it is mounted read-write, you really 
> should use 'shutdown' to shut the system off.  Otherwise you run the 
> risk of disk integrity problems.  It's happened to me before and when it 
> happens you will need to build the system again.  A live CD distro runs 
> entirely out of RAM so it's CD image remains pristine through reboots.
> 
  SL ought power down in an orderly fashion when the power button is 
pressed.

/usr can be (standards require it) be mounted ro.
/ should be able to be mounted ro without too much fuss (tmpfs 
everywhere that must be written, consider /var/tmp whose contents are (I 
think) normally required to survive reboots.

/tmp can be discarded, /var/lock and /var/run almost certainly, but 
ordinarily /var as a whole is writable and not volatile.

I see problems with any standard livecd:
1. Too much junk
2. Generally it's intended to demonstrate a desktop environment, not to 
run a server. It might not comprehend the idea of retaining data over boots.
3. If you want database software such as postgresql it's probably not 
configured to run.

Creating your own bootCD that has all your required software installed 
and ready to run is a fine idea, but maybe not better than and ro 
filesystem (which could be nfs from another server and so easy to 
maintain should the need arise). There are several standard 
possibilities, maybe the easiest way to discover them is to build a 
custom kernel and see what's offered when you choose filesystems.





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