PicoBSD diskless embedded 'where to start'

[Bruce R. Montague]

Hi. Eric, you've hit on the crux of some things I think.

 > So since the FreeBSD people use it, can we agree to use it and just let it
 > drop at that?

Yes, happily, subject to one point regarding terminology!
You've probably found one of the reasons picobsd sometime
gets considered a distribution separate from FreeBSD.
Today "FreeBSD Development Projects" collides somewhat
with a common current connotation of "open source project",
namely implying an independent project with it's own
resources, something like the "XFree86" or the "DragonFly"
project. Words like "release", "distribution", and "project"
are getting quite a work out.

Regarding:

 > The project page for PicoBSD was last updated in Jan 1999.
 > ...
 > ... those changes are not even noted on the PicoBSD project page.
 > ...
 > It would be nice if the web page for PicoBSD was more active and current.


In some ways it might be valid to consider picobsd a
project that succeeded, became stable, and has now become
just another element of the system. As you note, what
might be considered the "development project" documentation
has become dated. My sense (guess?) is that today 
"man picobsd" is considered the only up-to-date documentation
and that the "reference configurations" are being allowed
to lie fallow pending developments.

Regarding:

 > does the latest PicoBSD script take advantage of
 > changes in the kernel that have been made in the last 49 months?

I just checked the cvs for the script and doc:

picobsd   1.28   3 months  simokawa Remove obsolete disklabel and newfs options.
picobsd.8 1.24  13 months  schweikh english(4) police.

 http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/src/release/picobsd/build/
 http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/src/share/man/man8/

These don't seem that out of line for something reasonably
stable that slowly tracks FreeBSD developments as needed
using the same methods as much of the rest of FreeBSD.



 - bruce