Ubuntu Netinst Image for USB Keys?

[Bryn Salisbury]

Good Evening,

Appologies if this is the wrong list to send to, but I thought it didn't
quite qualify as a development question and wasn't really a user support
question.

I've recently been experimenting with MiniITX based systems with Ubuntu.
The particular one I've built doesn't have a CD-ROM drive to load the
install CD from. I performed the install by balancing a DVD-ROM drive
ontop of the open case.

To get to the point, I noticed that the BIOS contains the option to boot
from a USB key. A quick search on Google reveled that people have had
some sucess with writing Debian Netinst images to small USB keys.

My question is this, has anyone created a Netinst image of Ubuntu? Are
there any plans to create one? If there aren't, how would I go about
creating one?

I'm thinking that since USB keys are more resilient thant DVDs/CDs,
wouldn't it make a more reliable install media? Admitedly, not all
machines can boot of USB now, but I'm sure it's going to become more
prevolent in the years to come.

If noone is interested in putting one together, I'd be more than happy
to try.

Cheers,

Bryn