User Feedback :: File Editing
Attempting as superuser to make an edit of a file well down into the /usr directory, I get a "read only file system" error. I see that /usr is symlinked to /KNOPPIX/usr, so attempt to remove the symlink with rm -r /usr expecting to follow that with cp /KNOPPIX/usr /usr and edit the file. But rm -r /usr doesn't prompt for symlink removal as I expect, it simply asks to remove the file. While I'm suspicious at this point, I go ahead expecting to recreate the directory and its contents by copying /KNOPPIX/usr anyway. But when doing the copying part way through I'm told there's no room on the disk and the process flops. Now I know why I wasn't prompted to remove the symlink. How does one edit something as simple as a file in /usr/share/fluxbox/styles? Are size constaints so severe with DSL that doing something like this is out of the question or have I misunderstood the proceedure?
jlowell
Try loading up a *.dsl extension, or enable apt, or install Synaptic.
If you do one of these things, DSL will rebuild the file system with links to a writable file system in the ramdisk.
IE:
Instead of /usr -> /KNOPPIX/usr
you will have
/usr -> /ramdisk/usr
You can then overwrite the symlink for the style file with your edited version (provided that you are using 'root' or superuser authority).
However, it is preferrable to save edited versions of fluxbox styles in your /home/username/.fluxbox/styles directory.
They will still appear on the list of available styles to choose from, and it is easier to back up your .fluxbox directory.
Hope this helps.
Hi cbagger01,
OK, so curiosity has gotten the better of me. I just had to take a look at DSL and even though it won't load on my webserver, the machine on which I'd hoped to use it, I've sneeked a look on my main system where it will load and I can't let go. 
Anyway, from what you say, the most risk free of the three possibilities you list would seem to be to run "enable apt" from the menu. I have had very limited exposure to Debian, most of my background is with Gentoo and Arch, but I know enough to know that apt is the Debian package manager, eh? So, if I follow you, if I "enable apt", I'll be setting up apt's functionality. I strictly want to avoid any hard drive involvement with anything I do with DSL, cbagger01. Loading something into memory temporarily is not a problem, of course. But since I'm new to DSL, I want to avoid the stupidities usually characteristic of a newcomer. So I must ask, will "enable apt" in any way involve my hard drives?
It strikes me that by adding the option "toram" to the dsl command at start up that I might achieve the same thing you're describing about the file system rewrite. Am I on target with this thought?
jlowell
The "Enable apt" function will create a writable file system inside your ramdisk. It will not touch your hard drive unless you are running DSL under a full hard disk installation.
The "dsl toram" function does NOT create a writeable file system. The "toram" option will load the contents of yor dsl cd into a ramdisk. Because the compressed filesystem (eg. /KNOPPIX) is read-only, you cannot write to it even if it is stored inside a ramdisk or stored on a read/write device like a hard disk or a USB flash drive.
Why? Because the compressed filesystem drivers can only read the stuff inside the filesystem.
There may be a linux technology that supports compression of file system and both reading and writing (like "compressed drives" in older versions of Microsoft Windows), but the system that was chosen for knoppix and DSL, called "cramfs" does not support writing.
Hope this helps.
Hello cbagger01,
It certainly does, and that's true of your replies to every question I've raised here over the last several days. Many thanks to you!
Regards.
jlowell
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