[syslinux] Etherboot vs. PXE-Linux

[H. Peter Anvin]

William Park wrote:
> On Wed, May 26, 2004 at 05:32:13PM +0200, Klerlein, Thorsten wrote:
> 
>>Hi there,
>>
>>I do not know if it has to do with my english knowledge, but I tried several
>>times to understand the difference beetween Etherboot and PXE-Linux.
>>
>>I know that Etherboot can be put on a Nic's ROM, but for what on h*ll then
>>is the Etherboot floppy for?
>>
>>Please, could someone explain me stupid person these things? Thanks a lot.
> 
> Etherboot is old project.  PXELinux is newer which, in most cases,
> supercedes Etherboot.
> 

I wouldn't say that... in the best case they complement each other quite 
  well.

Etherboot can run from a ROM or a floppy without any firmware support.
PXElinux works on top of PXE firmware, standard with newer Ethernet 
cards but not older ones, but may be nicer to use.

Etherboot can now act as a free PXE stack, which means it can *be* the 
PXE firmware for PXELinux.  Synergy in action!

	-hpa