Re: Creating a bootable floppy

[Adrian Phillips]

>>>>> "Greg" == Greg Ward <address@hidden> writes:

    Greg> On 19 September 2001, Derrik Pates said:
    >> On Wed, 19 Sep 2001, Greg Ward wrote:
    >> 
    >> > # grub-install --root-dir=/floppy '(fd0)'
    >> 
    >> Um. You have to type it _exactly_ - --root-dir isn't going to
    >> work, you have to type --root-directory.

    Greg> Sigh.  I have been spoiled by command-line parsers that
    Greg> handle abbrevations.

    Greg> <rant disclaimer="I do like GRUB, really I do"> This is the
    Greg> kind of simple, silly usability glitch that causes people to
    Greg> turn their backs on a program pretty quickly.  I'm not
    Greg> referring to the fact that the option parser doesn't handle
    Greg> abbreviations; that's just a feature.  What is really key
    Greg> here is the fact that grub-install failed to give me a
    Greg> clear, simple error message like "Unrecognized option:
    Greg> --root-dir".  If it had done that, I would have slapped my
    Greg> forehead, tried --root-directory, and not had to bother the
    Greg> list.  Accurately complaining about unrecognized
    Greg> command-line options is not glamorous, sexy programming.  It
    Greg> is, however, utterly essential if people are going to be
    Greg> able to *use* the software in the real world.  </rant>

<rant with a touch of sarcasm>
It really irritates me when people complain about OpenSource
applications with out sending a patch.
</rant>

    Greg> OK, this time I ran # grub-install --root-directory=/floppy
    Greg> '(fd0)'

    Greg> and it's not entirely clear to me if the operation failed or
    Greg> succeeded.  (I'll know in a few minutes, when I try to boot
    Greg> off this floppy.)  Here's the output I got:

    Greg>   Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long
    Greg> time.  expr: non-numeric argument

<rant with a touch of sarcasm>
And when they don't check the mailist list archive first as well  (or
google or ...)
</rant>

Sincerely,

Adrian Phillips

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