<text:p text:style-name="P20"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc254_1260022884" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link"><text:s/>Section I.1: What is BDisk?<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P20"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc379_1260022884" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link"><text:s/>Section I.2: Who wrote it?<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P20"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc256_1260022884" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link"><text:s/>Section I.3: What is this document?<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P20"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc173_449581326" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link"><text:s/>Section I.4: Conventions used in this document<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P20"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc258_1260022884" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link"><text:s/>Section I.5: Further information/resources<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P21"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc175_449581326" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link">I.5.i: For Developers<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P35"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc254_1260022884" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link"><text:s/>Section I.1: What is BDisk?<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P35"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc379_1260022884" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link"><text:s/>Section I.2: Who wrote it?<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P35"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc256_1260022884" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link"><text:s/>Section I.3: What is this document?<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P34"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc173_449581326" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link">I.3.i: Conventions used in this document<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P35"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc258_1260022884" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link"><text:s/>Section I.4: Further information/resources<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P34"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc220_1657685180" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link">I.4.i: For Users<text:tab/>3</text:a></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P34"><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#__RefHeading___Toc175_449581326" text:style-name="Index_20_Link" text:visited-style-name="Index_20_Link">I.4.ii: For Developers<text:tab/>4</text:a></text:p>
<text:h text:style-name="P16" text:outline-level="2"><text:bookmark-start text:name="__RefHeading___Toc254_1260022884"/>What is BDisk?<text:bookmark-end text:name="__RefHeading___Toc254_1260022884"/></text:h>
<text:p text:style-name="P6"><text:tab/>BDisk refers to both a live distribution I use in my own uses (for rescue situations, recovery, etc.) but foremost and most importantly, it refers to the tool I use for <text:span text:style-name="T1">building</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T2"> that distribution. This is what this project and documentation refer to when the word “BDisk” is used.</text:span></text:p>
<text:h text:style-name="P17" text:outline-level="2"><text:bookmark-start text:name="__RefHeading___Toc254_1260022884"/>What is BDisk?<text:bookmark-end text:name="__RefHeading___Toc254_1260022884"/></text:h>
<text:p text:style-name="P6"><text:tab/>BDisk refers to both a live distribution I use in my own uses (for rescue situations, recovery, etc.) but foremost and most importantly, it refers to the tool I use for <text:span text:style-name="T1">building</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T3"> that distribution. This is what this project and documentation refer to when the word “BDisk” is used.</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="First_20_line_20_indent"><text:tab/>BDisk is <text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">GPLv3</text:a>-licensed. This means that you can use it for business reasons, personal reasons, modify it, etc. There are a few restrictions I retain, however, on this (don’t worry; they’re all in line with the GPLv3). You can find the full license in <text:span text:style-name="T1">docs/LICENSE</text:span>.</text:p>
<text:h text:style-name="P16" text:outline-level="2"><text:bookmark-start text:name="__RefHeading___Toc379_1260022884"/>Who wrote it?<text:bookmark-end text:name="__RefHeading___Toc379_1260022884"/></text:h>
<text:p text:style-name="P6"><text:tab/>I (Brent Saner) am a GNU/Linux Systems/Network Administrator/Engineer- I wear a lot of hats. I have a lot of side projects to keep me busy when I’m not working at <text:span text:style-name="T5">${dayjob}</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T7">, </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T8">mostly to assist in </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T6">other</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T8"> side projects and become more efficient and proficient.</text:span></text:p>
<text:h text:style-name="P17" text:outline-level="2"><text:bookmark-start text:name="__RefHeading___Toc256_1260022884"/><text:span text:style-name="T9">What is this document?</text:span><text:bookmark-end text:name="__RefHeading___Toc256_1260022884"/></text:h>
<text:h text:style-name="P16" text:outline-level="2"><text:bookmark-start text:name="__RefHeading___Toc173_449581326"/>Conventions used in this document<text:bookmark-end text:name="__RefHeading___Toc173_449581326"/></text:h>
<text:p text:style-name="P13"><text:tab/><text:span text:style-name="T10">If you encounter any bugs (or have any suggestions on how to improve BDisk!), please file a bug report in my </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://bugs.square-r00t.net/index.php?project=2" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link"><text:span text:style-name="T10">bug tracker</text:span></text:a><text:span text:style-name="T10">.</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P8"><text:span text:style-name="T3"><text:tab/>The source is available to browse </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://git.square-r00t.net/BDisk/" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">online</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T3"> or can be checked out via </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://git-scm.com/" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">git</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T3"> (via the </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="git://git.square-r00t.net/bdisk.git" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">git protocol</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T3"> or </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://git.square-r00t.net/BDisk" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">http protocol</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T3">). It is also available via Arch Linux’s </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/bdisk/" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">AUR</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T3">. If you are interested in packaging </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T4">BDisk for other distributions, please feel free to </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="mailto:bts@square-r00t.net?subject=[BDISK] Packaging" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">contact me</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T4">.</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P7"/>
<text:p text:style-name="P7"><text:span text:style-name="T18"><text:tab/></text:span><text:span text:style-name="T19">When I rewrote BDisk in Python 3.x (I should take the time to note that I am still quite new to python so expect there to be plenty of optimizations to be made and general WTF-ery from seasoned python developers), one of my main goals was to make it as easy to use as possible. This is surprisingly hard to do- it’s quite challenging to try to approach software you’ve written with the mindset of someone other than you. Please see </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T20">the</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T19"> </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T9"><text:bookmark-ref text:reference-format="text" text:ref-name="__RefHeading___Toc220_1657685180">For Users</text:bookmark-ref></text:span><text:span text:style-name="T19"> </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T20">section (</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T20"><text:bookmark-ref text:reference-format="chapter" text:ref-name="__RefHeading___Toc220_1657685180">I.4.i</text:bookmark-ref></text:span><text:span text:style-name="T20">).</text:span></text:p>
<text:h text:style-name="P17" text:outline-level="2"><text:bookmark-start text:name="__RefHeading___Toc379_1260022884"/>Who wrote it?<text:bookmark-end text:name="__RefHeading___Toc379_1260022884"/></text:h>
<text:p text:style-name="P6"><text:tab/>I (Brent Saner) am a GNU/Linux Systems/Network Administrator/Engineer- I wear a lot of hats. I have a lot of side projects to keep me busy when I’m not working at <text:span text:style-name="T7">${dayjob}</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T17">, </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T18">mostly to assist in </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T8">other</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T18"> side projects and become more efficient and proficient </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T19">at those tasks. “</text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://catb.org/jargon/html/Y/yak-shaving.html" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link"><text:span text:style-name="T19">Shaving the yak</text:span></text:a><text:span text:style-name="T19">,” indeed.</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P6"><text:span text:style-name="T19"><text:tab/></text:span><text:span text:style-name="T20">I did a lot of research into how low-level boot operations take place, both in BIOS and UEFI</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T20"><text:note text:id="ftn1" text:note-class="footnote"><text:note-citation>1</text:note-citation><text:note-body>
<text:p text:style-name="P36">Unified Extensible Firmware Interface<text:span text:style-name="T3">. UEFI </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T14">is not</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T24"> BIOS, and BIOS </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T14">is not</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T24"> UEFI.</text:span></text:p></text:note-body></text:note></text:span><text:span text:style-name="T20"> (and corresponding concepts such as Secureboot, etc.) which is no easy task to understand and very commonly misunderstood. (For instance, a common misconception is that UEFI necessarily implies Secureboot. This is quite far from the truth and UEFI by itself is quite a useful replacement for BIOS). Many of these misconceptions are simply due to lack of knowledge about the intricacies and complexities behind these technologies. Some of it is simply FUD</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T25"><text:note text:id="ftn0" text:note-class="footnote"><text:note-citation>2</text:note-citation><text:note-body>
<text:p text:style-name="P36">Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt<text:span text:style-name="T3">- propaganda, in other words.</text:span></text:p></text:note-body></text:note></text:span><text:span text:style-name="T25"> generated to prey on the fears of those who don’t understand the underlying specifications or technology.</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P6"><text:soft-page-break/><text:span text:style-name="T19"><text:tab/></text:span><text:span text:style-name="T20">It’s my hope that by releasing this utility and documenting it that you can use it and save some time for yourself as well </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T21">(and hopefully get the chance to learn a bit more in the process!)</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T20">. </text:span></text:p>
<text:h text:style-name="P17" text:outline-level="2"><text:bookmark-start text:name="__RefHeading___Toc256_1260022884"/>What is this document?<text:bookmark-end text:name="__RefHeading___Toc256_1260022884"/></text:h>
<text:p text:style-name="P8"><text:tab/><text:span text:style-name="T34">This document is intended to be an indexed and easier-to-use reference than the other plaintext files (in </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T2">docs/</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T6">). </text:span></text:p>
<text:h text:style-name="Heading_20_3" text:outline-level="3"><text:bookmark-start text:name="__RefHeading___Toc173_449581326"/>Conventions used in this document<text:bookmark-end text:name="__RefHeading___Toc173_449581326"/></text:h>
<text:p text:style-name="P25"><text:tab/><text:span text:style-name="T35">There are certain formats used in this document to specify what type of text they are representing.</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P26"><text:span text:style-name="T35">Commands will be </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T10">in italics</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T20">.</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P26"><text:span text:style-name="T20">Paths (files, directories) will be </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T22">in bold</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T25"> </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T27">(unless part of a command, output, etc.)</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T15">.</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P27"><text:span text:style-name="T24">Variables will be </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T28">underlined</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P27"><text:span text:style-name="T30">URLs (hyperlinks, really; you should be able to click on them) are </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T29">bold and underlined</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T30">.</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P27"><text:span text:style-name="T30">Paramaters/arguments will be either </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T31">in</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T30"> <</text:span><text:span text:style-name="T31">angled brackets>, [square brackets], or [<both>]</text:span></text:p>
<text:list>
<text:list-item>
<text:p text:style-name="P28"><text:span text:style-name="T30"><> are used for positional arguments/parameters, or “placeholders”</text:span></text:p>
</text:list-item>
<text:list-item>
<text:p text:style-name="P28"><text:span text:style-name="T30">[] are used for optional arguments/parameters</text:span></text:p>
</text:list-item>
<text:list-item>
<text:p text:style-name="P28"><text:span text:style-name="T30">Thus e.g. </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T16">someprog –dostuff <stufftodo> [--domorestuff <morestufftodo>]</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P10"><text:tab/><text:span text:style-name="T33">If you encounter any bugs (or have any suggestions on how to improve BDisk!), please file a bug report in my </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://bugs.square-r00t.net/index.php?project=2" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link"><text:span text:style-name="T33">bug tracker</text:span></text:a><text:span text:style-name="T33">.</text:span></text:p>
<text:p text:style-name="P9"><text:span text:style-name="T4"><text:tab/>The source is available to browse </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://git.square-r00t.net/BDisk/" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">online</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T4"> or can be checked out via </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://git-scm.com/" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">git</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T4"> (via the </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="git://git.square-r00t.net/bdisk.git" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">git protocol</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T4"> or </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://git.square-r00t.net/BDisk" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">http protocol</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T4">). It is also available via Arch Linux’s </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/bdisk/" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">AUR</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T4">. If you are interested in packaging </text:span><text:span text:style-name="T5">BDisk for other distributions, please feel free to </text:span><text:a xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="mailto:bts@square-r00t.net?subject=[BDISK]%20Packaging" text:style-name="Internet_20_link" text:visited-style-name="Visited_20_Internet_20_Link">contact me</text:a><text:span text:style-name="T5">.</text:span></text:p>