Now if you make it so there's an option to install to a hard drive (like a livecd), then that would just be awesome.

This sounds like a good idea for the end user to devise.

 

As far as possibilities, I'm sure a script could be devised using CPIO to extract the key components of unraid's bzroot

Then lay it down over a pre-installed slackware distro.

Is this something that Tom should work on or a seasoned admin like yourself.

 

As far as a LIVE CD, what exactly did you have in mind and who would develop it.

 

 

 

I'm sure a script could be devised using CPIO to extract the key components of unraid's bzroot

Then lay it down over a pre-installed slackware distro.

Not without many man-hours of work.  Such a process would require 1) editing of many, many config files and scripts, and 2) a new kernel to be rebuilt afterwards. Some kernel config options are incompatible with unRAID.  Trying to automate this would be a disaster.  Look at discussion boards elsewhere with noobs trying to build kernels.  It ain't pretty.

 

As I said, for anyone adequately skilled in Linux, they can put applications on the hard drive, add swap, compile their own kernel and applications, and make whatever bloatware they want.  If you are not skilled enough to do so, hire someone who is.  Then you can be the publisher of "unRAID - the Bloatware Version" and become rich and famous like Tom.  What.... you don't get rich and famous doing this?  Well shoot.....

 

Tom's time is limited and very valuable.  It should be spent first and foremost on things that *only* Tom can do, which is the unRAID internals.  Things that other people can do should be left to others.

 

ANYONE, and I mean anyone, can take unRAID, extract the initramfs, add a bunch of stuff, compile a new kernel, and pack it back into an initramfs, and offer the "Bloatware Version" for download.... as long as you take out Tom's proprietary emhttp.  Do it, and see how much of your time gets sucked into the black hole of user support.  (Note to Tom... it would be nice if emhttp was left out of the initramfs, and instead placed on the flash in the standard unRAID distro.) 

 

BTW, my old unRAID system was just like that... the initramfs was over 100megs -- where unRAID distro is only about 20 -- all before I wised up and started putting apps on the HD and symlinks in the initramfs.  Of course, symlinking then makes the system so customized, that it will only work on my system.  Cest la vie.