Klaus Knopper, Creator of Knoppix Talks to DistroWatch

An anonymous reader wrote to us about an interview with Klaus Knopper the author/creator of Knoppix. Knoppix is "a bootable CD with a collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a Linux demo, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. "

Comments

Distribution...

[whiteranger99x]

If I may ask, what made you decide to base this distribution on Debian as opposed to something like Slackware, RedHat, or even a Build Your Own Linux Distribution?

In other words, was there any redeeming factors Debian had over any other distribution?

Autodetection

[CableModemSniper]

I love the way he says he designed the hardware autodetection. He just made a list of al the steps you do to setup a linux install's hardware and automated it and threw in some kudzu. Genius.

License

[kaosrain]

Not mentioned in the Slashdot article, but most of the software in the Knoppix package is released under the GPL, and Knoppix itself is completely free. This is one of the reasons that this Linux bootdisk is such a big deal.

-Kaos

Hardware detection

[exhilaration]

I know someone mentionned the excellent hardware detection found in Knoppix, but I'd like to know why other distributions don't have this level of simplicity? I mean, Knoppix is literally plug and play - pop it into the CD, walk away, and BAM there's KDE on the screen.

WHY do I have to go through xf86config to get my distro up and running???? You gotta find your monitor's documentation, double-check what video card you have, look up how much memory, blah blah blah. Yet Knoppix does this AUTOMATICALLY???? (Or is that automagically?) Knoppix has been out for a while, their hardware detection should be implemented in every distribution!!

Re:Knoppix for installfests...

[Ed Avis]

If there were a DVD version of Knoppix with *every* free program you could possibly want to use installed - essentially Debian testing on a DVD - then maybe you could do without ordinary Linux distributions altogether. I'd certainly consider it, if I had a PC that was left on 24x7 and important things like mail and CVS on a central server.

An excellent idea!

[ivanandre]

This distro sure borns as a "demo" distro, but ive used it extensively and it rocks! Some of its uses are:

• Put on a friends computer and show him/her the power of Linux and free software without modyfing his computer!
• Boot a PC and figure out if the hardware its supported
• Secure server? (Who can write in the cd?)

I think the best point is that is Debian-based... and the hardware detection and configuration is awesome! Sure the debian guys can learn a bit... Free Software does not means impossible software, Knoppix!

Knoppix installs full Debian system on Harddrive!

[abcho]

The usefulness of Knoppix goes far beyond demo.

It already can serve as a Debian installation CD - and is arguably THE EASIEST Debian distro to install.

LinuxWorld has an article about this capability: here

The Knoppix-as-Debian-install-cd howto: here

not really linux

[mgkimsal2]

Obviously, Knoppix isn't really Linux if it does stuff for you automatically. As we all know, the only reason to use Linux is to have something to kill hours or days with while configuring arcane text files with no *understandable* documentation. By having this system just boot up and work, they've taken away the "Linuxness" of Linux itself. This is just a pale imitation of the Real Thing(tm).

Brief review of Knoppix

[markcappel]

Yes, yes, I'm the editor of LinuxWorld and hence I have an obvious motive for saying this, but here is a link to a recent, fabulous, well-written review of Knoppix, and it's place in the Debian world.

Mark Cappel
Editor
LinuxWorld

Great use for Knoppix

[zer0vector]

I am taking a Computational Physics class, and the professor prefers to use Linux for its ease in compiling and running programs. Unfortunately the only computer lab available was filled with windows machines, so we just boot the Knoppix CDs everytime we start class. Its fast and very easy to set up.