This is very similar to the approach that we took in our InstallBuilder cross-platform installers (http://installbuilder.birock.com http://installbuilder.birock

This is very similar to the approach that we took in our InstallBuilder cross-platform installers (http://installbuilder.birock.com http://installbuilder.birock.com), embedding a filesystem in the executable that gets mounted at runtime. If you do it right, it can support a wide variety of Linux distributions and significantly decrease the amount of pain end users and app developers experience. Those who disagree with this approach and believe "this is not the Linux way" should take a look at the referenced Linus Torvalds vieo