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I have a modified version of Slackware 15.0 installed on a flash
drive. It can boot from whatever compatible PC hardware I can get my
hands on. That includes several PCs and a few laptops.
You can do this too—read below.
I call my modification of Slackware ZombieSlack, as
it is neither dead (traditional) nor live.
ZombieSlack installs to a flash drive—or any
suitable device—by running a script that I wrote. It uses
three partitions:
A partition containing an rsynced-and-tweaked copy of a
reference installation of Slackware 15.0. I update my
reference installation periodically, but do not otherwise use
it. (You should do the same with yours.) The
rsyncing and tweaking is done by the installation script.
You may, optionally, add Alien Bob's LiveSlak
ISO to the root of this partition in a directory called
LiveSlak. A Keep partition containing files needed for
implementing ZombieSlack and providing
persistence. (I will provide an example that you may copy or
modify, but you must populate this partition yourself.)
Or optionally these files can be used to tweak
LiveSlak on–the–fly converting it
temporarily to Zombie/LiveSlak and thus giving it
persistence. (And more! You can even add packages or
customize the KDE settings. Did you notice what I did
here? The ZombieSlack install treats either a traditional
Slackware instance or a virtual LiveSlak instance! I
must add, however, that you may find using Zombie/LiveSlak in this
way to be cumbersome—I haven't shared the details.
The truth is that it was a "proof of principle", a helpful step in
the development of ZombieSlack. Still, it may serve as a
useful backup in a pinch.) A swap partition—just in case.
To install ZombieSlack to a target device you need
to:
Install SAM and the
SAM.ZombieSlack library to any convenient
device. I keep SAM and its libraries on a
regular (not bootable) flash drive. Download, install, update and set up a Slackware
basis on a traditional PC with an internal
drive.
You may optionally use the tool, up_basis, to
assist with the above. It is included in the library.
You first boot the basis, then use this tool.
It downloads and installs the slackpkg key if needed, then runs
slackpkg: update, install-new, upgrade-all and
clean-system. Start SAM and run the library's
install command. You will need to specify the
device names for the basis and the target of the
install. Midway through the install you will be prompted to
populate the Keep partition.
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