olpc-update and deletion of old images

[Martin Langhoff]

On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 2:08 PM, Michael Stone <michael at laptop.org> wrote:
> First and foremost, your approach seems reasonable to me.

+1

>> As far as I know, this functionality is rarely used,
>
> The functionality is now rarely used because olpc-update is not used as
> frequently as it used to be and because the OS image testing process is working
> well enough that the fail-safe functionality has not been required at scale.

The "olpc-update" is not widely used is about to change in a few
deployments thanks to XS + other parts of the "toolchain" all falling
into place (and into the field!).

>> My proposal is to modify the initramfs, removing the code that
>> supports alternate boot (O game-key). And if it encounters an old
>> version stored on disk, it will delete it during the boot process.

Can we do it in the bg with a very low-pri process? We'd have to mark
the "pristine" as "in process of deletion" if the deletion is stopped
we continue the job next round.

I am a bit hazy as to what happens to the non-pristine-tree of that
old version (holding any changed files on top of that old pristine).
Can we delete it sanely too?

cheers,


m
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