Recollection Services Incorporated

Consulting the FreeBSD manual… (PART 2)

1. choosing an img file: i386 or amd64

2. dd if=FreeBSD-13.1-RELEASE-amd64-memstick.img of=/dev/da0 bs=1M conv=sync

Law 2: (You) Do not ever be too certain of your loved ones; learn to memorize your adversaries.

Before recollection of the Operating System can take place inside the confines of the kernel, its image – in still form, within a slice of time must be taken. This .img file is a partial copy of the OS, which will be inscribed upon an external drive through the dd – convert and copy – command. Once a BSD image type is selected between the i386 or amd64 architectures, it needs to be written on the partitioned drive.

$ dd if=FreeBSD-13.1-RELEASE-amd64-memstick.img of=/dev/sda bs=1M conv=sync

Here, the if operand specifies the image version to be read, and the second, of operand specifies the target drive to which the file type will be forged. If the soul exists prior to birth, partitioning of a drive is analogous to the span of a life laid out prior to the moment of creation. Physical sensations – of hunger, tactile touch, and immaterial activity in the mind correspond to the image of an operating system. Recollection of its image from this boot drive takes place as the kernel begins to inspect blocks of information predestined for an internal SSD by the operator.

During installation, the creation of the UNIX file system begins with the root directory specified by a /. It contains the boot loader, temporary files, and the home directories of users granted access to a server. This compartmentalization of users operates based on the assignment of file permissions – read, write, and execute – with regards to the modification and recollection of directories, scripts, and various files.

Prior to affixing an image of the operating system, partitioning an external drive begins with alignment, specified by the –align operand of the GNU Parted utility. Starting with the root directory, percentages designate a file-type’s start and end points. Multiple file-types may symbiotically coexist in a specified drive as well.

$ parted /dev/sda –align opt \

mkpart fs-type 1, 30%

$ parted /dev/sda –align opt \

mkpart fs-type 31, 100%

Typically, root access is temporarily granted by running the sudo command in a shell. If a user is not specified, su will run the shell in root by default. Recursive removal of a scripts, files, or directories is perhaps the greatest danger a server faces. Its operands, rm -rf signify forced recursive removal of an embedded file and directories in a file-system while running as root user. During the bootstrap process,

the BIOS queries the Master Boot Record, which identifies the external drive and the parameters which designate the OS. In the root file-system, the boot directory contains the boot manager – in Free BSD it is called boot0 – which runs the boot loader in /boot/loader.rc, which initiates the kernel boot process in /boot/kernel. Once the FreeBSD kernel mounts the root file-system, process control transfers to the init utility, which loads network cards and peripheral interfaces.

If the /boot file-system is “rm -rf”ed, or recursively removed, the BIOS is not only unable to identify the external drive upon startup, but the Master Boot Record won’t even be able to load the partition. This is why I couldn’t boot from USB and the bootstrap process was unable to be initiated. Without a /boot drive, we have no boot manager and no boot loader. We are presented with a dilemma: is the kernel actively recollecting information in root directories during stage three of the bootstrap process? Following recursive removal of the /boot drive, the end-user is presented with message as the system attempts to re-initiate bootstrap during a 10-second window:

Failed to find bootable partition

ERROR: cannot open /boot/lua/loader.lua: no such file or directory.

Having effectively lobotomized the FreeBSD BIOS, Recollection Services Incorporated will host the first node on an IBM T-43. We are actively soliciting funds for the operation of a decentralized peer-to-peer network of nodes hosting audio files and personalized translations on a blockchain. Routing numbers and banking information will be listed in the about section.