Work towards completing installation instructions for x86

src/SUMMARY.md

@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
     - [Installing Binary Sets](installation/binary/README.md)
         - [Downloading Binary Sets](installation/binary/downloading.md)
         - [Installing on x86](installation/binary/x86/README.md)
+            - [Creating partitions](installation/binary/x86/partitions.md)
+            - [Extracting the binaries](installation/binary/x86/extracting.md)
+            - [Creating the root password](installation/binary/x86/passwd.md)
+            - [Setting up the Bootloader](installation/binary/x86/bootloader.md)
         - [Installing on Arm](installation/binary/arm/README.md)
             - [Raspberry Pi](installation/binary/arm/rpi.md)
         - [Installing on Riscv](installation/binary/riscv/README.md)

src/installation/binary/x86/README.md

@@ -13,3 +13,17 @@ in function and included in this page.
 >the choice of installing an older and likely unsupported distribution, or
 >installing an operating system descended from 4.4BSD (FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD).
 
+It is necessary to create and format partitions in advance for HitchHiker.
+There are various tools available for creating partitions on Linux. While
+graphical tools are available, it is recommended to use one of **fdisk**,
+**cfdisk** or Gnu **parted** to create partitions. All three are reliable
+and well maintained, as well as being much simpler to use than one might
+expect. The graphical tools such as Gparted often suffer from a lack of
+maintenance.
+
+Partition layout is left mostly to the user, but it is recommended to have
+a separate partition for /home and one for /boot (particularly if booting
+from EFI rather than legacy Bios). The default kernel that ships with the
+binary sets for HItchHiker uses the same config as Slackware's *huge_s*
+kernel and has good filesystem support, but it is still recommended that
+for the root partition be on an ext4 filesystem.

src/installation/binary/x86/bootloader.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Setting up the Bootloader

src/installation/binary/x86/extracting.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Extracting the binaries

src/installation/binary/x86/partitions.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Creating partitions

src/installation/binary/x86/passwd.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Creating the root password

src/introduction/README.md

@@ -7,15 +7,26 @@ HitchHiker Linux is a very Unix-like distribution of Linux with a focus on
 simplicity, elegance and providing a solid base that the end user can turn into
 whatever they see fit.
 ## Core Principles:
-* The default installation should include the bare minimum required software to provide a solid base.
+* The default installation should include the bare minimum required
-* Complexity should be discouraged in favor of code elegance, security and maintainability.
+  software to provide a solid base.
+* In itself, complexity is not bad. However, it must be justified, with
+  a strong preference given to more robust and secure code over having
+  every possible feature.
 * End users should not be discouraged from tinkering with their system.
 * The distribution should make as few assumptions as possible regarding end use.
-* While newer releases of software often eliminate bugs and vulnerabilities, newer software packages are not by default more secure than stable, mature packages (newer is not always better).
+* While newer releases of software often eliminate bugs and vulnerabilities,
-* Any changes to the core system functionality, especially those which change expected functionality, must be well justified and well vetted before deployment.
+  newer software packages are not by default more secure than stable,
-* The base installation should include everything required to rebuild itself from source.
+  mature packages (newer is not always better).
-* The distribution should make as few changes to the upstream software as possible, delivering it as intended by the original author.
+* Any changes to the core system functionality, especially those which
+  change expected functionality, must be well justified and well vetted
+  before deployment.
+* The base installation should include everything required to rebuild
+  itself from source.
+* The distribution should make as few changes to the upstream software
+  as possible, delivering it as intended by the original author.
 * Patching of sources should only be done to fix bugs or vulnerabilities.
+* Power users and developers are users too, and the system should stay
+  out of their way.
 
 HHL was born of a desire to harness the greater hardware support of Linux while
 paying respect to the Unix systems from which Linux was born. The author was a
@@ -25,9 +36,13 @@ believed that there is a need for a distribution that does not pander to ease of
 use for casual users at the expense of putting up roadblocks for experienced Unix
 veterans.
 ## Architectures
-HHL is running on the following processor architectures:
+HHL compiles for the following processor architectures:
-* x86 (minimum i486)
+* x86
 * x86_64
 * armv7l
 * aarch64
 * riscv64
+
+Of the above, HHL is known to boot and run well on x86_64 and aarch64.
+Running on other architectures will require more manual work on the part
+of the user in order to set up their boot loader.

src/introduction/audience.md

@@ -21,3 +21,17 @@ Linux distributions, will gladly install, configure, and run 100s of programs
 without your ever being aware that they are doing it. By the time you have
 achived proficiency with HitchHiker, you will know what every running process is
 for and why it is needed.
+
+One major benefit of HitchHiker over other Linux systems is that the base
+installation contains a complete C/C++ development environment out of the
+box. The default packager, [pkgsrc](https://www.pkgsrc.org), delivers
+third party software as if you compiled it yourself from the source package.
+That is, it includes all documentation, shared and static libraries and
+development headers that come with the source distribution. Developers
+may find that HItchHiker is a great distribution in that it will stay out
+of their way.
+
+Another benefit of HitchHiker is that it is small in comparison to other
+Linux distributions. It is much easier to build up a small system for an
+embedded device or a small Arm home server and fit the entire thing into
+a limited amount of storage.