LICK
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LICK Documentation

LICK is a method to install Linux distributions from inside Windows. It can install directly from an ISO file, bypassing the need to burn it to a CD. Additionally, it installs a bootloader (either GRUB4DOS or GRUB2), so that the user doesn't need to do so themselves.

LICK also includes a library, liblick, that can be used in other projects. It is released under the MIT licence. This documentation describes liblick.

Useful headers

Outline of a Program

Below is a summary of what the LICK CLI interface does to use liblick. To see an example of how to use the following functions, see src/cli.c in the LICK source code.

Setup

  1. Use get_system_info and get_lickdir to get information about the system and the lick configuration directory, respectively.
  2. Use get_loader to get the system loader. [1]
  3. Use list_installed to get a list of installed distributions.

[1]: Due to how the bootloader of Windows ME works, you should use check_loader_me_patch to check if the suggested patch has been installed. If not, you should prompt the user to do so.

Pre-installation of a Distribution

  1. Optionally use gen_id and gen_name to convert an ISO file path to a valid ID and name, respectively.
  2. Use is_valid_id to check if an ID is valid. Any name is valid.
  3. Use all_drives to get a list of all system drives, and use drive_t.path to get their names. You might want to suggest the drive lickdir_t.drive, which LICK is installed on.

Installation of a Distribution

  1. If check_loader returns false, use install_loader to install GRUB.
  2. Use install to install the distribution. If you want to show a progress bar, use install_cb

Uninstall a Distribution

  1. Use list_installed to get a list of all installed distributions.
  2. Uninstall one using uninstall.
  3. If this is the last installation, you may want to use uninstall_loader