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Knoppix 3.3 Is Out

maedls.at writes "After 6 months of development, the latest version of Knoppix 3.3 is out - Kernel 2.4.22 with HIGHMEM (4GB) support, KDE 3.1.3, XFree86 4.3, OpenOffice 1.0.3 (German and English), KOffice 1.2.1, new boot options for RAM or hard-disk preload of the CD. Possibility to create a persistent homedir with personal data and desktop settings on a memory stick or similar, optional with AES encryption." The main Knoppix site is still down in protest of European software patent legislation (click on the link inside the English paragraph to get to the meat of the site), but the excellent knoppix.net has a detailed changelog.

48 of 430 comments (clear)

  1. DVD Knoppix? by Comsn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    when will the dvd knoppix be released?

    and start including mplayer on these cds ;\

    1. Re:DVD Knoppix? by jasonditz · · Score: 4, Informative

      I asked Klaus about mplayer support a long time ago, and he basically said there was no point since most of the codecs are non-free.

    2. Re:DVD Knoppix? by mabhatter654 · · Score: 3, Informative
      The Knoppix DVD was a special one-time-only deal for LinuxTag in germany. There are places you can get it online [extra copies] and if someone is willing, you could download it.

      Mostly, it's to hard for the One Guy [Klaus Knopper] and a couple friends to keep up more than 1 offical version. So for quality-sake, they don't do that, and try to keep one version they can test throughly and do a really GREAT JOB on! It's better that way.

  2. Fix for nvidia chipset? by I_am_Rambi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've looked but couldn't find if they have fixed a problem with the nvidia chipset for the AMD platform. I've tried to boot from the previous version of Knoppix, and it died. Does anyone know if this has been fixed? I think this is a major bug and needs to get fixed.

  3. how about a patched kernel by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 3, Interesting

    with ACPI included for all those who have ACPI laptops but want to use Knoppix every now and again but can't get sound working because of the damn ACPI system.

    --



    I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
  4. What you don't look at the page first? by OS24Ever · · Score: 5, Informative
    --

    As a rock-in-roll Physicist once said, No matter where you go, there you are.

    1. Re:What you don't look at the page first? by Feztaa · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Hooray! This is exactly what Bram Cohen wanted. Up until now, the usual way to get linux ISOs on bittorrent was for somebody to get it off the FTP and then post a torrent link.

      It looks like linux distros are 'getting it' and posting torrent links to help curb their bandwidth bills.

      Now let's hope the next version of RedHat is available from an official RH bittorrent link... :)

    2. Re:What you don't look at the page first? by Feztaa · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because my university doesn't have anything newer than redhat 7.3. And the other universities are too far away to be fast anyway.

      I got RH9 off bittorrent and my download was 600kB/s, while my upload was 900 kB/s. That's why I want an official bittorrent link, instead of just the university links.

    3. Re:What you don't look at the page first? by Drakonite · · Score: 4, Insightful
      What you don't look at the page first?

      Amazingly enough, the story isn't an article to go see, it's an iso to download. So should everyone go hit knoppix's server to slashdot it for a while? Or should the smart ones of us realize there are torrents available, and click one of them so as to not slashdot the website?

      --
      Shoot Pixels, Not People!
  5. Hurry up and make my download go faster! by jdawg · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~koppen/knoppix-en.to rrent

    That's for the English image. V3.3-2003-09-22.

  6. worked for me today by jab · · Score: 4, Informative

    I installed Knoppix 3.2 this morning on an FIC E-Cube, in all its blue glowing glory. The biggest change to my eye is easier access to Knoppix-specific configuration; that now has its own root menu on the task bar. I also like the new desktop wallpaper which looks like an industrial cave painting. For some reason today's Knoppix didn't see hyperthreaded Pentium 4 as an SMP machine, which Knoppix 3.2 had no problem recognizing. Other than that, no real problems. I went ahead and used Knoppix as installer for Debian - this is definitely my preferred way to install Linux these days.

  7. Get it in Canada by millette · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you don't have access to a good pipe, you can always order it from Nattor the Little CD Vendor:
    http://www.waglo.com/nattor/

    P.S.: don't complain that my sig is redundant - someone probably has them turned off. Thanks :)

  8. Re:Dammit! by OS24Ever · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll paypal you the $0.10 that disc cost you if you'd like.

    --

    As a rock-in-roll Physicist once said, No matter where you go, there you are.

  9. Re:Why? by Kethinov · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Uhh because Knoppix is better than WinXP will ever be. I'm a lab assistant at my college and I run Knoppix live CD to do my every day stuff at work. It's perfect for taking over Winblows computers without ever having created existence of it being there. When I'm done I just shut it off, reboot, and 2 minutes later the original WinXP OS is back and no one cares that I've been using a good OS.

    --
    You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
  10. Why no OpenOffice.org 1.1.0? by The+Revolutionary · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That's dissapointing. I had hoped to see OpenOffice.org 1.1.0. OpenOffice.org 1.1 is available in Debian unstable (contrib). Seeing as Knoppix is a modified Debian system, I can't imagine what the holdup might be. Does anyone have any insight into the situation?

    1. Re:Why no OpenOffice.org 1.1.0? by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 5, Insightful

      OOo 1.1.0 is still in the release candidate state.

      Knopper is very limited by space. Perhaps he didn't want to include software that's still in the testing phase? There's alot of software available in Debian unstable (contrib) , but not all of it is production-ready.

      RC4 only came out a few weeks ago, and it does take some time for the Knoppix folks to put out a release ("... After 6 months of development... ").

      --
      "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
    2. Re:Why no OpenOffice.org 1.1.0? by Micah · · Score: 3, Insightful

      > OOo 1.1.0 is still in the release candidate state.

      Yes, but the OOo folks have said that it is production-ready. I think they did at RC3.

      OOo 1.1.x, even in its current RC form, is light years ahead of OOo 1.0.x, and very stable. No new distro release should ever ship 1.0.x again, period! :)

  11. Knoppix still king of bootable CDs by proxima · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Though other bootable CDs like morphix look promising, I'm impressed with the rate at which Knoppix moves forward. Knoppix has consistently displayed nice polish visually and in terms of usability.

    As it's debian-based, I'm hoping some more of the hardware-detection, auto-setup, and visual polish can make it to stock Debian (yes, I know you can "upgrade" to full Debian after booting knoppix). The boot process is cleaned up and functional for new users to Linux, and the speed is remarkable for loading a compressed image off a CD (so long as you have 128+ megs of RAM).

    Kudos to those who work and contribute to Knoppix for producing such a quality assembly of open source software in such a useful form.

    --
    "The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent." --Carl Sagan
  12. Re:How to create a persistant homedir on USB memor by millette · · Score: 4, Informative

    Something in here will surely help :)

  13. Sweet. brltty support by gmhowell · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A bit unusual, but knoppix has included brltty support from their live CD. That, quite frankly, is cool as shit. Props to the coders, and the fanboys who keep 'em coding.

    (brltty is a driver that allows text to be output to braille displays, typically used by the blind and the deaf-blind. Read my journal for a little bit more info.)

    --
    Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
  14. Virtual Knoppix by bucky0 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hey, I thought of a cool idea, I don't know how practical it would be though.

    Include a virtualisation program(s) which would let you run knoppix in a virtual machine. Then, you don't have to reboot PC's, you just plug in the CD, have it autoplay(or manually run it) and nearly instantly, the linux system boots up.

    Is there anything that would be difficult about that?

    --

    -Bucky
  15. It **IS** on there.... by imag0 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just as soon as you put it on there. Here's a link for the remastering HOWTO:

    http://www.stirnimann.com/mystuff/doc/knoppix.tx t

    It's open source, man. Have at it. Be sure to send a link to Slashdot and let everyone know how much a l337 haX0r you are. ;)

  16. Jesus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're just now coming out with HIGHMEM [sic] support? MSDOS had HIMEM.SYS like 15 years ago. Great, now I can load my Lunix mouse driver above 640k! Thanks a bunch!

  17. Re:Why? by hdparm · · Score: 3, Interesting
    It denies you root access

    Try Ctrl+Alt+F2. Replace F2 with F5 to get back to GUI screen.

  18. Re:Knoppix for USB Key? by millette · · Score: 3, Informative

    You mean like Damn Small Linux ? That's a debian derivatives, but only 50MiB.

    http://rz-obrian.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/knoppix-usb/ will guide you into fitting it on your usb key.

    Good luck!

  19. Re:Why? by be-fan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Heh. I'm sure our IT guys were glad that we were not running "bug-laden hobbyist software" when they had to remove msblaster from hundreds of machines on the network...

    --
    A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
  20. flaming debian-legal list=legal issues? by Cid+Highwind · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mplayer has too many legal issues, but Xine is OK?
    *rolling eyes*

    If that's Xnoppix's reason, they've been reading debian-legal too much and comparing the code too little. If Mplayer has "legal issues", then so does Xine. Both players can decrypt DVDs, both can use borrowed win32 codecs, both use algorithms that are subject to patents (in the US). Where's the difference? The Mplayer devs got into a nasty flamewar with debian-legal people, and the Xine team didn't.

    --
    0 1 - just my two bits
  21. Re:Why? by Tommy+Boomfiger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I just happened to download 3.2 a couple of hours ago just out of curiosity, the mirror i got it from didnt have 3.3 yet. Until now i have been mostly a windows user with a little bit of mac osx under my belt, never really used any *nix before. I have to say, this is an awesome way to try out linux without having to actually install and configure it.
    The reason I havent tried linux before is mostly because I didnt really have time for it, and when i did, i didnt want to spend it in front of a computer. I mean i bought that ps2 for more than collecting dust. So after just playing around with knoppix a little bit i love it and will be using it more and when i get more time ill move on to something more permanent.
    so to answer you question, you should try it on your "reliable good old XP Home Edition" box to see that there is more than just windows out there. Plus when that windows install craps out on you, you can boot up a knoppix disc and be online in minutes.

    --
    ~Tommy Boomfiger http://www.gotapex.com/forums
  22. Re:Why? by Feztaa · · Score: 3, Informative

    It denies you root access

    ROFL.

    There's a root shell right in the KDE menu, and from there you can run 'passwd' to change the password. Bam, now you have total root access to the entire knoppix box.

    Congratulations, you just rooted your own box.

  23. My problems with Knoppix by yerma · · Score: 3, Funny

    I decided, after hearing so much about Knoppix and how it could get me into using Linux without all the fuss (partitions? what? geez) I thought I'd give it a go.
    I was not impressed to say the least.
    I booted the operating system and then started work on an essay on the ontological beliefs of Heraclitus of Ephesos. First of all starting OpenOffice.org ('.org' at the end of an application name? What's with that?) took incredibly long. I could have installed my copy (yes, it's legit and paid for) of Windows Millenium Edition in the time it took to boot Knoppix and start OpenOffice.org. Anyway it was to my surprise that even though I saved this file to my 'Desktop', the next time I booted Knoppix it was nowhere to be found. So now my philosophy 521 paper was missing -- needless to say I booted into Windows Millenium Edition (where files don't just god damned disappear) and rewrote the paper, printed it (couldn't get that working in Knoppix either) and haven't looked back.
    I really like the idea of cooperation and open source software, the community idea seems really neat, and I hope these guys get their stuff together so regular guys like me can use this software at the efficiency and reliability that professional software offers.

  24. Hardware Support by MalleusEBHC · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I couldn't find this on the site, but how wide of a range of hardware does Knoppix support? I work as a network technician at my university, which entails a good number of calls where I must go out and troubleshoot a resident's network connection. Many a time I will run into a spot where I can nail it down to either being a problem with the OS or a problem with the NIC. For the Macs, I just use my iBook as a Firewire boot drive, however the Windows boxes prove to be somewhat of a pain. It would be a dream if I could just boot from Knoppix and be able to remove the potentially problematic OS from the equation. However, given the wide range of hardware I see out there, I wonder if a standard Knoppix setup would be able to support all the hardware I run into.

  25. Re:After you get it, Help Advertise Knoppix. by mabhatter654 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Great idea, but you have to help the newbies out! Knoppix is GREAT for new users. Most modern [not bleeding edge] hardware works right away. You can even setup Web, email, samba, etc. all from the disk.

    It's great to show Bosses, because you don't have to wreck a computer to use it! But an AOL style mass mailing would be a really, really bad idea. It still requires somebody to SHOW how to use it, otherwise people will hate it rather than like it!

  26. FCK YOU by EdlinUser · · Score: 4, Informative

    AC flamebait gets moderated +3 Informative. *sigh*
    This is informative:
    1. PII = P6
    2. Your 3.2 Knoppix will continue to boot.

  27. Re:Unfortunately by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "Having Knoppix with Windows XP is like having a spare bicycle tire for your car."

    Can't say I agree with that. If XP is infected with a worm or something, and you can't risk getting on line with it, then you can boot into Knoppix. and find the patch/fix you need. Then, when you go to reboot, unplug the network cable and run the patch. Problem fixed.

    I had my computer lose power in the middle of a shutdown process once. Win2k was busy updating the registry and hadn't closed the file when the power went. Doh. If I had Knoppix then, I could have gotten online long enough to find out if there was a fix. Or, better yet, I could have done some disk cleanup in order to reinstall Windows. Oh well.

    Spare bicycle tire? I think not. Linux is not my favorite OS, but Knoppix would have saved my butt a couple of times.

  28. Re:Learn before you Graduate...again by mabhatter654 · · Score: 3, Informative
    Don't ever trust something important to a program you've never used before. That's just stupid computer usage!

    Frankly, you didnt' give this nearly a fair trial. I read other posts, and you didn't take the time to even learn what Knoppix was, or how to work it before you trusted you life's work to it. Had you read up a little before jumping in, you would have learned how to do everything you wanted in about an hour. Been running from start to configured in 10 minutes, and not lost a thing! Even been able to save that file so you could open it in windows!!! Knoppix is meant to "Do no harm!' that means it doesn't write to ANYTHING without you giving it express permission...on NT boxes writing to a drive is lethal--It couldn't assume that you wanted anything saved.

    Read up at Knoppix.net! Check out the FAQs, and browse the forums for an evening before trying it out again. You might find that you'll like it!

  29. Re:Pack it next time you go! by mabhatter654 · · Score: 3, Informative
    Give it a try. It doesn't always work 100%, but it works most of the time. Also, read up on the Cheatcodes...They let you modify it right from the boot screen to cope with difficult hardware.

    Most PCs that can boot from a CDROM should be able to run knoppix. The only way you'll know for sure is to try it out [no harm in trying!] or to read up on specifics on the forum if there's a particular piece of hardware you know you need to support.

    Please, try it...You can't really HURT any PCs with it so it's always worth a try!

  30. Re:Not to ruin the mood... by Kingsly · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If the bill passes a lot of these sites could be forced to shutdown due to some stupid patent or the other. Atleast future innovation would be greatly hampered. And the page being like it is .. makes sure anyone getting to the site actually reads the stuff.. people might ignore smaller links/notices like they ignore banner ads! The protests have been successful in that it has made the lawmakers do a rethink... now it only remains to see what happens tomorrow(wednesday).

  31. Re:Hardware Support...networking by mabhatter654 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    as a network tech...

    I happen to know for fact that Knoppix [3.2] works with the 3Com USB/ethernet networking dongle! That is an absolute lifesaver when you have PCs with no/broken nics. The ability to at least capture work from a borked HDD is worth it's weight in gold [ok it's a CD..that's not very much]

  32. Re:Not to ruin the mood... by Kingsly · · Score: 3, Informative

    The websites had an option of either closing down the whole site or having a protest page shown whenever someone visits the site for the first time.
    (ie., http-referer is other than the site.)

    Most projects have chosen to go with the latter as it would cause minimum disruption to their own users while providing maximum exposure to the anti-patent protest.

  33. Knoppix and Laks Watch Sav ed Me by rossz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Actually, it saved my wife. The hard drive in her laptop died. Normally, there's a 3 year warranty on them, but Hewlett-Packard being the cheap fucktards that they are OEMed the drive and reduced the warranty to 1 year. So my 15 month old drive is useless. Oops, I digress.

    Money is rather tight, so I wasn't able to get a replacement drive immediately. However, my wife needed internet access at the minimum. Knoppix to the rescue. She was able to get full blown internet access and email. With the addition of my Laks watch with its 128Meg of memory, she had a persistent home directory so her settings (e.g. bookmarks) weren't lost.

    I definately feel Knoppix was worth the money I spent on it. Oh wait! It was free! Damn. Such a deal! Seriously. Keep a Knoppix CD handy at all times. Its a life saver.

    --
    -- Will program for bandwidth
  34. Knoppix as a diagnostic tool by grolschie · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have been fixing a computer that shows all the signs of a stuffed motherboard. Tested RAM and PSU, cpu seems fine. The machine running XP has started to lockup when left for more than 2 minutes. Nothing dodgy installed. Drivers and stuff all sweet. Everything looks peachy on the XP install. The system only started locking up a months ago, and lockups are increasingly more frequent. Temps are fine also. No viruses. Patches, bios and drivers all up-to-date.

    I was so damn sure it was a crook motherboard until I threw in a Knoppix 3.2 cd. I opened nearly every app I could at once, and left Pingus and other things runnng over night. No freezes! I could not get Knoppix to crash this system no matter what I played with.

    Solution: format c:

  35. Easiest way to Install GNU / Linux Debian : by pswnet · · Score: 3, Informative

    1. put the Knoppix cd, booting.... 2. open a shell 3. knx-hdinstall 4. apt-get update, apt-get upgrade 5. Bamn...You get a Debian in your Box can no be more easier. *Internet Connection is requiered.*

  36. Re:How to create a persistant homedir on USB memor by millette · · Score: 3, Informative

    From the knoppix homepage:

    Possibility to create a persistent homedir with personal data and desktop settings on a memory stick or similar, optional with AES encryption.

    Also these options:

    • knoppix home=/dev/sda1/knoppix.img Mount loopback file as /home/knoppix
    • knoppix home=scan Automatic search for knoppix homedir
    • knoppix myconf=/dev/sda1 Load knoppix.sh from /dev/sda1

    If you want to bring in the big guns, there's knoppix-std too, with encryption support, etc.

  37. FYI by orv · · Score: 5, Informative

    From that changelog:

    "Please don't use knx-hdinstall any more!
    I won't support it any longer and its just there as uhm, its not my project, but those of Christian Perle.
    knoppix-installer should now work in both modes (see below) and give a fairly stable system. "

  38. Time to switch to Apple, buddy! by zonix · · Score: 3, Funny
    Anyway it was to my surprise that even though I saved this file to my 'Desktop', the next time I booted Knoppix it was nowhere to be found.

    So, it was like ... it devoured your paper? :-)

    z
    --
    What would an EWOULDBLOCK block, if an EWOULDBLOCK could block would? -- me
  39. Re:KBabel in or out? by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny
    I need KBabel to translate .po-files.
    It only does .tinkywinky and .lala, I think.
    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  40. Knoppix is a lifesaver/NTFS recovery by Lerxst+Pratt · · Score: 5, Informative

    Two days ago, I performed disaster recovery on a friend's Windows 2000 box. Suffice it to say that his computer would not boot into the recovery console nor would the hard drive allow me to reinstall Windows 2000 on it. Fortunately, I had a Debian Jr. Knoppix CD.

    I popped it in, booted up, and was ready to amaze my friend. Both his NTFS hard drive and his USB FAT32 hard drive appeared on the desktop automagically after boot. I set the USB drive to read/write by right-clicking and selecting the read/write mode. I opened both drives in two separate windows of Konqueror and performed the data recovery right before his eyes by dragging files from one drive to another.

    When the backup was complete, I showed him a few other things like the games and that he was completely internet capable. His jaw dropped in awe. He asked if I would make him a copy of the CD so that he could be internet functional on his computer until he could get a new hard drive. I told him to keep the CD. It was his very first experience with Linux... and a very positive one.

    I will reiterate one thing I have already read under this topic. No one should be without a Knoppix CD. Go find yourself a torrent or a mirror and get Knoppix now!!! You never know when it will save your a$$.

  41. knx-hdinstall by mbrubeck · · Score: 4, Informative
    "Why the HELL is it not an official, supported feature of the distro to INSTALL TO A HARD DRIVE?"

    That's what the knx-hdinstall command does.