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Re:Kexecboot: Linux-As-a-Bootloader implementation based on ... by newnewpdro on Sunday November 03, 2019 @01:24PM (#21435596)
The Linux kernel used to be a bootable MBR image, but I believe support for this was removed at some point.

I used to build custom Linux kernels for rescue floppies that had no boot loader and a bundled rescue initramfs at an ISP back in the late 90s. They booted very quickly despite being 3.5" floppy disks, it was kind of epic for the time.

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Linux-i386-Boot-Code-HOWTO/bootsect.ht...

Edit: It looks like 2.6.23 is when it vanished as part of the arch/i386/* -> arch/x86/* migration:

Present @ 2.6.22:

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin...

Gone in 2.6.23:

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin...

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