On Tue, 29 Feb 2000, Alegria Loinaz. Inaki wrote:
> I am a new participant in the list and after reading FAQs I have a couple
> of questions:
> - Is ELKS able to run executable programs from standard Linux?
Not directly, since standard Linux programs are in 32bit code, ELKS is
mainly for 16bit CPUs. Also, Linux uses ELF headers, ELKS doesnt.
However, if your Linux code is small enough, there is no reason you cant
compile it for ELKS, depending on what it does.
> - Is possible with ELKS to read the File System in the hard disk (I
> suposse no, but I donīt know sure)
You can read the minix filesystem on the harddisk. As yet this is the
only fs that ELKS really supports. Both Linux and ELKS can read this, as
can many other systems.
> I am looking for a simple OS to use teaching (modifying the kernel) and
> despite simplicity is very important, I'd like to be possible to load
> pre-compiled programs and to have a file system in hard disk.
>
> Is ELKS a good choice for this or it is better an old version of the Linux
> kernel?
Either would be good. The main benefit of ELKS is that it is a LOT
smaller and easier to demonstrate parts of the kernel. For example, the
floppy driver in ELKS is ~1500 lines, in Linux, its around ~4500
lines. Which would you rather try and explain? :)
Davey
