User Feedback :: what exactlly are .dsl files???

This seems to be obvious to most users on this forum but I can't find a simple description of what .dsl files are and how to use them. I see a lot of "type this" and "push this button" but not what they are and how the system actually uses them. I can't seem to find the thread that explains what I assume must be simple.

Thanks

From the site FAQ http://damnsmalllinux.org/getting_started.html#myDSL

Ok I'm a little thick. I created a .tar.gz file for opera 7.54 and put it in the / directory of hda8. When I booted from cd and issued "dsl mydsl=hda8". It only loaded one file into the /etc directory. The others errored out I think trying to write to the /usr directory. I simply renamed the .tar.gz file to a .dsl file and did the same procedure. Now the files that had been in /usr are in /ramdisk/usr . I think it is now working the way it is supposed to. Opera loads and runs at least.

This is the type of stuff I was trying to find out. Is this the normal operation and usage of tar.gz and .dsl files using mydsl?
If I booted using "dsl toram" and burned my new .dsl file to a separated cd, how can I get it loaded?

Thanks

If you make a *.tar.gz extension, you can write only to /home, /tmp, and /opt. This is done to minimize ram usage. This is probably why you received errors. Extensions named *.dsl create a broader writable system, which allows more universal edits and additions but it increases memory usage.

/ramdisk/usr is the same as /usr. It's loaded into RAM instead of running from the harddrive or CD, so that's where the name comes from.

If you boot with the toram option, the whole system is loaded into RAM, so you can remove the DSL CD. Insert the CD onto which you burned your extension(s), mount it, open up emelfm, browse to the directory where your extension is stored, select the file, and press the "myDSL" button.

Next Page...
original here.