Oberon/ETH Oberon/bootfile

This document was originally hosted at the ETHZ. It remains under the ETH license and is in the WayBack archive.

Booting an OS in a file, with application to ETH Oberon

Summary

If one feels it is too risky to partition a hard disk for installing a foreign OS on a working system hosting other OSes, the alternative is to install the unfamiliar OS in a large file in an existing file system. ETH Oberon can then co-exist with any number of other partition-based OSes, including Oberon, in these manners:

if Windows is installed, in a FatFS
if Linux is installed, in a Linux file system (EXT2)

As another example, this technique is also used by the free BeOS 5 Personal Edition.

ETH Oberon for Dummies

When Windows is installed, this version of Oberon can be installed in a large FAT file. An easy-to-use installation program OberonInstaller.exe running under Windows is included. The program installs the big file and writes an Oberon boot file to a 1.44MB diskette, from which Oberon can then be booted. To uninstall, delete the file.

Note: It is an updated version of the software found on the CD-ROM included in the book Beginning Programming for Dummies.

Linux-based Oberon

When Linux is installed, an emulation of Native Oberon under Linux, is installed in a large file of the Linux file system (EXT2). The goal is not a tight integration in the Linux environment but a binary compatibility with Native Oberon. This implementation does not change the module interfaces. Oberon is started in the X11 environment by executiong a ./oberon command.

Installation and usage informations in Native Oberon Installation: Concepts and Procedures.

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