Message-Id: <199702111340.AA00788@mail.crl.com>
From: "Weiqi Gao" <weiqigao AT crl DOT com>
To: <opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net>
Subject: Re: [opendos] OpenDOS + Win95 w/FAT32?
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 07:41:32 -0600
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mharris AT blackwidow DOT saultc DOT on DOT ca wrote:
>[......]
>Here you go. (see attachment, [the Linux info sheet])
>[......]
> like: SYS C: /TYPE=ext2, or to reinstall the current as default
>[......]
>built in (that you've specified in config.sys or in an FSTAB
>file).  Or instead of having the kernel automatically mount
>[......]
>>>personally that I'll want a TOTALLY 100% ext2 system when ext2
>[......]
>Yes, I agree, it is called FSTAB, and is mounted from
>AUTOEXEC.BAT by the MOUNT /A command.
>[......] and also to allow you to change the native FS
> in DOS to a superior one such as ext2.  What benefit would you

Hmmm...  Why do I have the feeling somebody is trying to turn OpenDOS into
a Linux?  We already have Linux!  If ext2fs is so great, use Linux. 
OpenDOS is for people who are stuck with DOS for one reason or another.

By the way, installing DOS on your Linux machine is a breach of security
for Linux already.  Allowing DOS to "mount" any Linux partition read/write
turns everyone into root.

And if you want to keep the security, you need to port the /etc/passwd file
to DOS, and all the getuid(), getgid() system calls.  Once you have those
calls, people would want a login program for DOS.  And they would want a
getty so they could login from a terminal.  Then they would want a telnet
server, a full TCP/IP stack, a POSIX compliant shell, and all the POSIX
calls in the standard C library.  While you are there, why not modify the
exec() call so that it uses the ELF and a.out formats.  Well, maybe the NE
and PE formats executables as well.  The list can go on and on....

BTW, you already can "mount" your ext2 file systems in DOS, with "e2tools".
 It allows you to read (readonly) your Linux native partitions from DOS.

--
Weiqi Gao
weiqigao AT crl DOT com