On Sun, Aug 25, 2024 at 08:39:57AM -0400, Hendrik Boom wrote:
> On Sun, Aug 25, 2024 at 02:42:46PM +1000, Tom via Dng wrote:
> >
> >
> > > On 23 Aug 2024, at 02:12, dng@??? wrote:
> > >
> > > You can use Ventoy https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html to boot (almost) every iso image from a thumbdrive. You make the thumbdrive bootable with Ventoy and copies as much as iso images that fit afterward.
> > >
> > > Grtz.
> > >
> > > Nick
> > >
> >
> > I used ventoy for a while until I realised they bundle binary blobs in the source tree. Sounds a bit too similar to xz backdoor for me.
>

> At least that need affect you only during installation.
> You should still be able to run the installed Devuan without ventoy.
> Of course, this doesn't give you certainty that ventoy doesn't sneak
>    something in during installation.

Ventoy is not really involved during installation other than for the
boot loading. All else is by the ISO itself.

It's weakness is that the selected ISO is not directly available to
the selected "installer", since that ISO resides as an image file
within an filesystem of a partition.

Such installers that are fully contained within their initial initrd
work fine with that; they don't need their source ISO.

Such installers also work that include the logic to look for its ISO
not only among the partitions but also as image files within some
filesystem of some drive and set up an appropriat loop device for it.

Ventoy does provide some breadcrumbs forfinding the image file but in
different ways depending on the boot method (legacy or uefi).

Ralph.