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Best Live Linux For Christmas Giving?
trustedserf writes "This year I am including a bootable Live Linux CD in many of my Christmas cards. As I'll be making the copies myself I may even change the default desktop background to something personal, or Christmasy before running it off on cheap CD-Rs. The objective is to show people the easiest possible route to using a linux desktop so that they will be: A) Aware and B) Pleasantly surprised. About Christmas they may also have more time to try it out too. Naturally, I'm thinking of Gnoppix, but there are other options.. I use KDE, so I have to decide between it and Gnome. Bearing in mind my objectives, what distro would you choose. Also, importantly, is it possible any of them will damage their hardware (monitors with incorrect refresh etc.) I would be *very* unhappy if that happened. How many of them would fail to boot, leaving a bad impression? Which way would you go about it for maximum "WOW"."
A linux live CD by itself isn't going to get a normal person to run it. You need to put all sorts of easy to run/access games on it, plus Firefox. Then maybe... possibly... someone will actually use it.
Now I can see why you have no friends.
windows-xp-professional-with-keygen.iso
Mandrake has a live cd, and seems to be the best solution for a beginner. I have converted several people to Mandrake and they all seem to be happy with their solution
http://www.mepis.org
I'd skip the Linux live CD and give a charitable donation to The Human Fund instead. It's much more meaningful.
I would think twice before doing. Seriously, how many people, whether family or friends, wouldn't think of you as a fanatic or total nerd if you went around giving Linux as a christmas gift.
I would suggest pulling some of your more technically inclined relatives/friends aside, and just show them Linux running on your machine.
My family wouldn't know what "boot from this cd" means. Good luck!
Mepis Linux is another good choice. It's also very easy to install to the hard drive if they are impressed with the LiveCD version. It's also just one CD. http://www.mepis.org
You're a geek, but it's a cool idea.
...it's that people hate to be converted and they hate to be preached to. If your friends aren't looking to change their OS then just forget your little crusade because all you're going to do is piss people off.
Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
I am including a bootable Live Linux CD in many of my Christmas cards
:)
interesting choice, as i'm guessing at least half the people you send to don't even know what linux is. i'd like to know how this turns out
also, my suggestion is you is to include some sort of leaflet into getting them started, do they even know how to boot a bootable CD? just thought i should point this out.
Marge, get me your address book, 4 beers, and my conversation hat.
I am not a linux guru but from the perspective of the average person go with something that has a simple GUI interface. All that fancy commandline stuff scares people.
Are you going to raise the production value a little? get some of those spray on CD covers or what have ya's, gifts I find may look a bit cheap written in black marker.
Although Linux is a very good idea, just some incentive.. maybe security or games...
Another nifty customization would be to set the Firefox Home Page to something personal and/or Christmas'ie so they are reminded again of your gift (cool idea) when they fire up the browser.
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
I've had real good luck with Mepis. The book "Knoppix Hacks" has instructions for re-mastering Knoppix for a custom desktop. Morphix has instructions for remastering too. If anyone has an older PC, DamnSmallLinux (DSL) might be a better choice.
Christmux.
has a lot of punch... Firefox, Multimedia and easy set up....
Unless you will have alot of people going "WTF happened to windows!?!" "This asshole crashed my computer and now I have some foreign interface on it"
I'd hate to be a member of your family, worst gift ever.
Honestly.
Don't give people these discs, unless everyone in your family is a geek no one will even use it or know what to do with it.
Most people who use Windows don't even know how to install that and that's really easy.
Don't use a cheap-o CD-R.. The price is low because the quality is low, do you want a low quality CD causing people to not switch?
Which brings up the point: What makes you think that the people you send Christmas cards to want to switch from Windows?
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
"Which way would you go about it for maximum "WOW"."
You mean as in: "WOW! I knew he was nerdy, but...just... WOW!!"?
- "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
Good lord man! Linux for Christmas? You might as well give them coal. One can at least safely burn coal and keep warm. ;)
Interesting idea either way you look at it.
The aalib's bb demo makes me horny.
Seriously, it's an awesome demo, especially when you tell them it's nothing but text.
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
Mepis is Debian based; much lower barrier to admission than other Debian distros.
Penguin Piercings Or maybe "Raver Penguin" Anyway, a real penguin with some glow sticks would rule. Think there is a Gov. grant for testing X on these somewhere?
Is there anything better than clicking through Microsoft ads on Slashdot?
Nothing says, 'I'm cheap' on Christmas like giving out burned CD's of free OS's! I bet you gave out bootable floppies of FreeDOS before you got a burner!
"Excellent, a heavy card... might be some money or something in there... or maybe a cool music CD. Cool!"
*rip, rip, fwiiip*
"What the hell?"
"LINUX! Oh for f*ck's sake!"
"Why the hell would I want to put this on my machine? It's got what... like 18 games out for it? Can it play HL2? No... can it play Halo2? No... Does it really improve what I'm currently doing if I'm not a nerd? Not really."
*throws it with the AOL CDs*
* Note: I actually think the idea is fairly cool.... BUT only when sent to a very select group of people who will appreciate it, ie those who are already a bit tech savy.
One thing to watch out for is wireless keyboards, i had a problem with getting Gnoppix to load correctly because i could not select any options on the config due to a USB keyboard, Logitech was the brand.
He never said it was his gift, just that he was including it in his cards.
Cb..
I just want to say that I think this is an awesome idea. I've been trying to convince my dad to switch to Linux for some time now- maybe I can guilt him into trying Linux out if I disguise it as a Christmas present!
When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.
This is like a relative trying to convert you to Colgate from Crest....
lame gift.
Give em a linux powered media player or something useful...
What about putting photos and music on it and use it as the card itself...
All right. So I am probably going to get modded down for this, but, thre are always better gifts than Linux CDs. However, if you really want something computer oriented, send out copies of Firefox.
SuSE Live CD. I've found it has better general hardware support (don't want it to coredump on someone) and the default program pack does a pretty good job.
Don't give people these discs, unless everyone in your family is a geek no one will even use it or know what to do with it.
...and the ones that are geeks will already know where to get it if they want it.
So you use KDE but 'naturally' you would choose GNOPPIX? Why not Knoppix?
creation science book
Why not go for Mandrake Move (assuming you do realise that most recipients will think you are nuts)?
Then if they want to get the full experience, they can upgrade to a full hard disk based version of Mandrake?
Just a thought
This sig is intentionally blank
Definitely Ubuntu. Ubuntu Cheers, TdC_VgA
1.Start by sending Linux CD's to friends and family.
2.Branch out to your whole town
3.Now county level, then state, etc
4.????
5. pro^H^H^H declarw bankruptcy
Okay, so maybe a few bugs to work out, but still, Rock On! great Idea
Oh, and I would use Red Hat, so maybe you could get sued for some free publicity.
If you are one in a million, then there are six thousand people who are just like you.
Gnoppix for Gnome
Knoppix for KDE
But why not give them ubuntu linux, if you got in earlier they would have sent you free pressed CD's.
----
KDE is windows for linux
Gnome is what you wished windows would be
I'm jumping on the "this is dumb" bandwagon.
Give them something useful like Firefox. Leave a note:
1) Install
2) Use for 7 days
3) Send me a thank you card for saving you
The Morphix ISO's and derivatives are some of my favorite LiveCDs. I think my very favorite is GNUStep 0.5 because it is built on GNUStep; and because it has GRUB and parted and QTParted, even though the installer still uses cfdisk by default.
Close second is Morphix LightGUI, an XFCE-based full desktop system, since it's only 200 MB. Unfortunately, the ISO builds are very seemingly outdated. (Firebird!)
After that, I would probably go with plain old Knoppix, or maybe Gnoppix being a GNOME-ish person.
*is run over by rotten tomatoes*
I would go with knoppix, KDE is much more windowizy and many windows users cannt even tell the difference. It is very user friendly and has alot of extra apps that are really usefull. If they finally decide to make the switch I would strong suggest Fedoria. Its very easy to install and update/maintain. The only thing I would suggest is for them to just burn all there files on a CD before installing. Anyway goodluck on your mission!
The people that say that this smacks of conversion and fanaticalism are correct. I mean, put it in the xmas cards if you want, but don't get all upset if no one installs it.
I mean seriously, how many people really want to think about OS's during Christmas?
This is a better Halloween gift then anything. You can be that crazy old man that gives out Linux Distros instead of candy bars.
On a serious note.
This puts a thought in my head.
I have pretty much 'zero' interest in running Linux thankyouverymuch.
One of the reasons I don't desire to attempt it is because of the headache factor. Command line commands I don't know, drivers I don't know where to find, sound card that won't work.... blah, blah blah.
All I know is that when I install windows it comes up as advertised.
See, I think this guy is onto something. I just don't think he is thinking of the correct use for it.
What about a seriously generic Linux distro where a newbie like myself could put it in his CD drive, it would boot into some sort of DOS like equivelant where it would ask some simple questions about partioning and formatting the drive, then 20 minutes later it would finish the install and boot me up to a GUI desktop with video drivers installed (well generic ones at least), sound drivers installed and firefox installed.
I am not aware that such a creature exists. It probably does though. But that is one reason I haven't attempted it. I don't feel like taking on a learning curve that for me would start on the install. I can learn about dealing with drivers and command lines and such later. Just get me to a GUI desktop so I have some sort of baseline to work from.
You're kidding, right?
If one of my relatives tried to use a christmas card to evangelize an operating system, they'd be spending Christmas outside in the barn.
This
why not give a gift voucher that says
:)
"redeemable for one free install of Linux!"
that way you convert them and take all the hassles out of it
I have bad memories of technology and christmas. One year we got a Sega and it broke 4 times. It's very frustrating when tech stuff won't work on christmas day.
If I'm on your christmas list, just fill it with pr0n intstead -- then the knoppix-feature of not touching the hard drive is pretty useful; so parents don't see the stuff in my browser history.
I don't know much about Live CD's as I've never had to use them, but as far as Desktop Environ's, I would suggest Gnome, only b/c it's spiffier. I think people would prefer something at least a little cool looking, over something flat and boring. But, if you have a bit of a mischevious side, send them a distro without a graphical install and Fluxbox as the only WM. That'll be the gift that keeps on giving (headaches, that is) ;)
I had so many unwanted daemons on my machine, I had to hire a priest to cast them all out.
I have messed around with several live Linux CD's and have settled on SLAX Popcorn, which is based on Slackware. http://slax.linux-live.org/download.php It comes standard with Firefox, Thunderbird and MPlayer already installed, and being Slack-based, it is extremely smooth and stable. I can't see that it would harm any PC hardware as it probes quite thoroughly while booting. I have booted several PC's and laptops with it and all major items funtioned correctly without any tweaking needed. It can boot totally into RAM and therefore runs quite fast and saving the configs to a USB drive, hard drive or floppy is a breeze. AND best of all, it's 137megs so it will fit on a miniature CD, for better envelope stuffing!! Hope this helps, and good luck with your project!
Knoplix had frozen bubble included (its a "bust a move clone") Fun. I used to boot into knoplix just to play..
just put a message on the first boot screen that says they must send copies of the Live CD to 7 friends and family within one week or they'll have bad luck... like Timmy Tomelson in Desmodo, Nebrasksa who didn't believe the curse and was sued by the RIAA, for illegally downloading copies of John Tesh at the Red Rocks or Bostuli Smith of New Townslope, New Hampshire whose liquid cooled beowulf cluster sprung a leak destroying his systems, and rendering his attempt to compile a complete Gentoo distributin in record time (less than 3 weeks) an utter failure.
I'm hoping this will make it into the drafts of GPL 3.
go with something that has a simple GUI interface. All that fancy commandline stuff scares people.
The 90's called. They want their joke back.
Gnome and KDE are two of the many GUIs available and they have been included in most distributions for years.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
An intelligent person wouldn't accidently do this, but I don't know the people you are sending cards to (no offense intended). If someone plays with disk utilities while using knoppix, they can wipe their hard drive. I think NTFS files systems are ok, but FAT32 could get messed up.
and the year before that? and the year before that? I'm too lazy to check but I think this has been posted in at least some variation over the last few years. It's really just a BAD idea, as anyone that would know what to do with the CD, already knows where to get it.
I only have ONE person in my entire family I could send this to. ONE!
K Man
Give out a CD with OSS Windows apps, first.
If somebody's already tried and approved OOo and Firefox, it'll be a lot easier to transition to a whole new OS.
I find it really sad that all the comments stating something to the effect, "This is the worst idea ever", or "What a geek!" are being modded up.
Worst case scenario, a bunch of people get CDs that they have no idea what to do with and call asking "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?", at which point the poster explains that there's a program (I call it this because that what most users refer to Windows as) that will make your computer do everything it does now but be far less suceptible to the WTD's (Web-Transmitted-Diseases) they are fighting every day.
Best case scenario, they throw it in and it works and they see that besides Fords, there are Chevrolets, Buicks, and even Yugos and that they have a choice.
Power to the people.....quit raggin' on this guy and either offer some helpful information shut your pie hole!
Knopix! Its the new coal!
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
I've been trying to figure out a decent gift for my Dad, and I was thinking the new O'reilly Knoppix Hacks book would be a good choice. He used to love computers, but he feels like they've gotten too complex for him, and he's totally frustrated from dealing with Windows virus and spyware issues. The book looks like it's got some good info on dealing with those, plus knoppix might be a fun little toy for him to play with that'd make computers simple again. It'd also let him know a bit about what I've been babbling on and off to them about for years now :-)
The idea of giving them just a CD though? Lame. The CD with some decent instructions tailored to their needs, if they actually have them then maybe you've got something there. I'm personally going to go check the book out in the store before I order it for him.
"I may not have morals, but I have standards."
But Knoppix 3.6? Absolutely rocks.
Its good looking, rock solid, and full of good apps, and its debian, so its apt-able if you do want to go ahead and install it.
I have a freaking liver-brained 60 year old running it, and he cant break it.
He's broken SuSE, Red hat (anyone can do that i know), and mandrake.
Knoppix!!!
I'd choose SLAX, because of it's base in Slackware linux. I worked with building custom installers for slackware in the past, and it was basically painless. Back with slack 7.1 I was able to rewrite some scripts and install over ppp for my non-cd notebook.
Patrick Volkerdi has effective script writing style, and top of the line documentation. If any of his style was carried on to SLAX, they would be your best option for custimizability.
The link for slax: http://slax.linux-live.org/
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
Don't bother. Do you think anybody wants a Linux CD as a gift?
It would be like buying somebody a bible for Christmas!
Well, you could just pop the browser up with the full text of the GPL, and have a dancing RMS elf walk them through gearhead freedom issues that no one but us really care about...
How about... if it were the Christmas card, and you gave instructions on how to boot it, and that it's *safe* and doesn't install anything to their hard drive. Some people might try it out.
Have it boot up, pop open a browser and show some online christmas card that you know is safe.
After that closes, have a stocking or something that says "click me" which is really a folder with a bunch of games in it.
That's more like something someone would want...
That is the worst idea I have ever heard in my lifetime. Most people, unless they want to use linux, would rather use windows because its a lot easier. To run linux well you really need to learn a lot. Unless the people you are giving these to know about computers and want learn more they would just be getting some worthless coasters.
Has anybody come up with a "live CD" which is really a live CD, QEMM, and a batch file? This would be pretty handy for demoing Linux without someone having to boot from the CD.
Oh, and I'm NOT suggesting this for a Christmas/Birthday/Bar Mitzvah/Kwanzaa/anything gift.
Either you've told your friends about Linux, and they're excited, or this will be coming out of the blue.
If it's the former, then a CD seems like a good bet, but be sure to include directions about how to change the boot order. Several of my computers have needed slight BIOS changes. I thought FC3 was really easy to install and to set up.
If it's the latter, why not just send a glossy brochure to introduce them Linux, stressing all the fun things? Offer to help install it on site.
Live free or die
That almost makes it a good idea. Still pretty geeky though.
Send just the cd with simple instructions on it, and have it boot into the desktop and load a slideshow or similar.
Might actually get some people to try it.
People don't know how to boot off a CD. You'll need to include directions for that, and it's difficult, since every BIOS has a different method.
Also, tell people that they should keep it around even if they don't understand it. A friend recently re-imaged her computer (at Dell's recommendation) because some DLL was missing or something. The data on their disk could have been saved with a bootable CD.
A misconception that I've recently heard is that OSS isn't worth anything if you're not a programmer. Not sure how that plays into your card, but it was a new one on me.
I would think similar is a really great Idea, don't stress it being Linux though, let them explore it if they wish, the hook is to have a disc of goodies the non-techie would want to boot and play with again and again.
Suggestions would be:
Xmas theme background, and appropriate holiday colorings
Greetings in the form of an MPEG or web card (or OOo Impress file!)
Maybe MIDI Karoke songs and a player
Games: Frozen Bubble, Kickity, Pysol, Tux Racer, Argamentron (all the addictive ones...)
Include some popular anims and stuff (pong swf, ayb swf, etc.)
Choice humorus MP3s, picture slideshows, etc.
(yeah, I know you have oks for all that stuff already.. ;-)
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
The RFC, the server, or the client?
That way you can customize the CD exactly the way you want it. You can even use it as a means to advertise your consulting business.
You need to create a separate 10GB partition on your hard disk and install Mandrake 10.0. For those who are adventurous, here is a link to a Google Cache of my LiveCD Howto: http://tinyurl.com/6k2ll
Please, please, DON'T visit my web site...
There are a few other howto guides on the web as well, go there, go anywhere else, just don't go to my site, it is just a poor baby Celeron.
Oh well, what the hell...
Why not give them The OpenCD instead? Non-techies aren't likely to switch to Linux easily, but you can still promote open source by giving them programs they need for their current (Windows) operating system. It's much more likely they'll use this than a Linux distro.
In my opinion, SLAX (http://slax.linux-live.org/ is a very good distribution, whether you want to actually give it as a Xmas present is another thing. Unfortunately people are ignorant enough that they usually don't have a clue what Linux is. Even if you're giving it to fellow geeks, they'll probably either have a favorite liveCD already or will have no need for it. It's a risky idea altogether. Anywho...possible liveCDs could be: Knoppix STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease...no jk it's the Security Tools Distribution) It's a very balanced liveCD with adequate hardware detection. I lent a copy to a net admin I know and I still haven't gotten it back XD MandrakeMove (make sure it's retail version) People above had mentioned this. It's important that the ones you give are the retail versions, the free one plain ol' sucks. Trust me. Don't even bother downloading the free one. The USB Key that comes with the retail one is kinda like an all purpose gift, so maybe that's a choice, make it a liveCD and a USB Key
Sing a song in the age of paranoia....well maybe not. They just might DRM it
I'm quite partial to this one.
Details at:
http://www.pclinuxonline.com/pclos/index.html
This sig intentionally left blank.
Try DamnSmallLinux. It can fit on a business card size 50MB live CD. It's chock full of some brilliant apps, and can easily be configured to fit any system. The CD works on even older CDROM drives. Plus, it's lightning fast :)
StrayByte.Net
I like the idea. But, make sure to do these:
1) Take out dangerous utilities (partitioning, hdinstall)
2) Make it Christmasy (slideshows, etc)
3) Take out $OTHER_CRAP
4) If possible, also include Windows Ffx/Tbd, OOo, GIMP, etc. on the CD. If you can't convert the OS, at least try the apps.
ROMANES EUNT DOMUS
You insensitive clod!
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
I guess BSD is dead.
The disc alone would be rather lame indeed.
Oh well, what the hell...
Which way would you go about it for maximum "WOW"."
Buy them a Mac
Free? It's a $699 value.
I think most anyone not familiar with Linux would rather a cracked version of Windows XP then any Linux distribution. It's something they might actually use.
This sounds like a spammer's tactic to me, despite the fact that you know these people.
Personally i'd be as annoyed to recieve this linux propaganda as i would to find a scientology leaflet or whatever along with my Christmas card.
Christmas is commercialised enough as it is, without the age old Christmas card tradition being tainted by it. Please don't try to sell linux to your friends (metaphorically), at least not in this way.
Clearly the poster knew that live cds were available, but he wanted a forum for which one would be best. Slashdot seems as good a place as any. There's Usenet as well, but it's not moderated, which makes it harder to find an answer and you end up reading a lot more trolls.
It's also relevant because it's kind of a neat stocking stuffer idea. Incomparably nerdy, but still neat.
1st day: Mandrakelinux
2nd day: Fedora
3rd day: SUSE
4th day: Debian
5th day: Knoppix
6th day: MEPIS
7th day: Slackware
8th day: Gentoo
As taken from today's rankings at DistroWatch. Of course, that leaves out Gnoppix, the author's first choice.
Now, if only we could find a holiday that was 357 days long. Or even better, make EVERY day a new Linux distribution day, with Hannukah being the 8-day reprieve from it -- can't imagine anything that would convert people to Judaism faster...
--------
Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
Of course "normal people" love it when you extend your OS evangelicalism to their Chistmas day. And don't say that it is only to help them. The Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on your door are trying to help you too. Just like spreading any other religion; it is better when THEY ASK YOU. There goes my karma...
Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
I'd use the Ubuntu Live CD. It's a GNOME distro, based on Knoppix. The recent Gnoppix is based on the new Ubuntu live CD, though I'm not sure what Gnoppix has done to the 4.10 Ubuntu to change it from Ubuntu Live to new Gnoppix... But this Ubuntu Live CD really is awesome. Ubuntu in general is pretty rad, but the Live CD is nice as well.
Though really- why the hell do this? I mean, anyone who would even remotely appreciate this- fellow nerds, be them friends or family- would likely already be running Linux or not be interested in it. The rest of em will just be confused, or think something like: "Wow. What a dork. too bad he wasted this perfectly good CD-R- I would've preferred a copy of the new Heiruspecs CD..."
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
for me to poop on.
How do I get on your Christmas list and what about Mandrake? ;)
I like muppets.
Depends on who you send it to, ofcourse. But make sure in any case it has THE cardgames, not the ones from Gnome, but really, exactly the SAME ones as in Windows. Otherwise it won't do, because they'll be DIFFERENT and therefore BAD. For the rest, have lots of dumb backgrounds with kittens or other cute animals, scarcely dressed women - actresses maybe, some action sport pictures, a car or two and a holiday location that they could never afford, perhaps very cheesy cherubs with corny christmas wishes, that kind of stuff. Don't forget some really heavy mouse cursors, and perhaps a very bomastic start-up sound, followed by santa's voice (linux originated in Finland after all).
That's how people judge an OS, you know.
They'll think it's cool. In fact, they'll think it's so cool they will show it to anyone who comes to visit them. And that's when we'll unexpectedly pull them in on superior security, stability, standards compliance and ofcourse the preemptible kernel...
OK, maybe not, but they'll still think it's a cool demo cd, ho ho.
Where's the *wow* for Linux? All of those can be had for Windows.
At work we have about 20 machines, 10 QA and 10 lab machines that all sit at an idle windows screensaver. Is there some live CD that I can pop in and configure our central server to use those machines as nodes on a dist cc cluster?
It needs to be able to handle any node going off line (rebooting into windows for 'actual work') gracefully.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
I had already been thinking about giving some of my loved ones open source software on CD-R's for Christmas. But just the other day a group of us got together and decided we'll put on a Free Store (take what you need, bring what you don't) on Buy Nothing Day. One of the things we're going to give away is CD-R's with Linux.
I was planning on the Ubuntu live cd. When i used the release candidate live cd, it also had some of the contents of the OpenCD. That way, even if they don't decide to install Linux, they still get the Gimp and OpenOffice etc.
Grandson to Nan whilst Grandad splutters on his mince pie - "No Grandma, when I said your at the terminal I didn't mean you were dying"
I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born - Ronald Reagan
Has got to be the tackiest christmas tree i've ever seen. Do slashdotters really use that much tinsel?
Slartibartfast:"Is that your robot?"
Marvin:"No, I'm mine."
Where would we be if Wheel had hid her round rock in a cave instead of showing everyone how it rolls?
I currently use a hacked/customized version of Slax see Slax. I carry it on a 1GB USB Drive that includes customized versions of Firefox, Thuderbird and Samba plus many more modules. So far this setup has been truly convenient for me. On occasions when I find myself without a laptop but near a PC that is able to boot USB drives (I have yet to come across a PC that did not), all I do is stick the drive in the USB port, boot up in trimmed down KDE environment, use FireFox to check Yahoo/Gmail/Hotmail accounts, and Thunderbird to poll my personal domain accounts. Once done, reboot, voila, no cookies etc. left behind. No need for someone to log-on to their pre-installed OS accounts, nor to suffer the embarrassment of accidental viewing of history list of pr0n sites that the person had surfed last .... :D
SIG ALERT
I personally think it's kind of cool. Before I started using Linux, I would have LOVED to know somebody who was willing to share. I would make sure to include a dorky note to the effect of "I'm not going to be offended if you don't use this blah blah blah" so they don't feel awkward. Let them know you're just spreading the joy and not preaching.
All of you people saying how lame it is to give someone a free OS that they'll have to spend time attempting to use are missing the point. Maybe he doesn't want to be invited to Christmas next year? It's a very clever ploy to get himself disowned!
Why can't people on Slashdot ever just answer the question that's posed? The first thing everyone does is declare that the fact that the question is even being asked it totally ridiculous and how dare the poster be so stupid as to even consider asking it? Can't people just be helpful without being assholes?
___ alwaysBETA.com - Hey, you've got nothing better to do.
... so parents don't see the stuff in my browser history
Here's my christmas present for you: YOU CAN DELETE THE BROWSER HISTORY!
Merry christmas and remember to clean the keyboard.
... give these people whatever you wouldn't mind having them ask you questions about. It sounds like you're setting yourself up to be tech support guy for your christmas card list.
"Still think it's not something you want to find in your XMas stocking?"
It's better than the coal I usually get.
Kruger: Uh George we got a situation here. My accountant told me there's no such thing as the Human Fund. .. celebrate Christmas... I celebrate Festivus
George: Well... there could be
Kruger: Well I don't get it. If there was no such as the Human Fund, then those Christmas gifts were Fake. You better have a damn good reason why you gave ME a fake christmas gift
George: Well sir.... the thing is.... I don't
Kruger: Feminist?
George: Festivus!
I understand that you are being thoughtfull because you believe that your friends will be better off by running linux instead of windows.
Still, what if you received a bible, coran,scientology book or a Chick Track from a friend that is concerned for your soul. Perhaps even got an AOL CD from a friend that wants you to switch to a "better" service.
Send them something that they like, not something that you think might be good for them. Do not be an evangelist in christmass time. You might have less christmas cards to send next year.
Cheers,
Adolfo
Do the people you are sending these disks to know how to change the boot order in the BIOS? If not make sure you include detailed instructions. Other than that it sounds like a great idea.
This reminds me of the time my trendy grandfather gave me a pirated copy of Jagged Alliance 2 for Christmas :) Poppy, I salute you!
How about a CDROM with:
1) pictures of last year's Christmas party
2) your favorite Linux distro, set up so when it boots, the first thing it does is play a slide show of those pictures
3) an MS-Windows autorun.inf set up so if they insert the disk in a Wind-bloze box it will play the pictures.
"My gift to you this year is a family photo album. Insert the CD into your computer."
Back to the original question:
I've had decent luck with Knoppix, but it doesn't work on every box.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
How about a CD that installs firefox as their default browser, installs a firewall and changes their wallpaper to a photo of you in front of a christmas tree? It could also run adware or similar and give them a nice clean PC as a christmas gift!
It comes in both CD and floppy varieties, for your convienience.
knoppix 3.4 failed to detect my Samsung SyncMaster 172N with the correct sync/refresh modes. It's not a problem with the monitor because it works on my primary Debian boot. It's quite a common LCD monitor so you might find this helpful.
my blog
"Here, mom, boot from this cd"
"Silly, no, it's a cd from this stocking!"
- dshaw
Let's hope one of your friends or relatives gives you the gift you seem to need most: A LIFE!!!!!!
Check out my foes list to see who is so retarded that they can't use the signature line!!!
A puppy is the gift that keeps on giving-- they'd have a better notion of what to do with a puppy's "gift" on the carpet than how to answer the most basic Linux installation questions.
"Boot" from a CD? What does that mean? A puppy will be chewing on some boots while your CD is on the way to the landfill...
the problem is, its not news worthy for the 500,000 users that browse the front page on a daily basis....
One of the rules of gift giving is to never give a pet as a gift. It requires a level of responsibility and commitment that cannot be forced upon a person.
I get the feeling that trying to switch someone to another OS somehow falls under the same etiquette.
Dan East
Better known as 318230.
"but he did use it as his primary desktop for a while. "
Why did he stop using it? Was it due to an issue with Linux or something else?
About six months ago my wife's uncle was asking me what I do about pop-ups, viruses, and other such things. I told him that I don't have those problems because I do not use Windows. After talking with him at some length, we determined that he could switch to Linux for just about everything. He uses dial-up which was a bit unreliable at connecting from Windows, e-mails, surfs, uses his digital camera, and uses Quickbooks. Okay, I set him up with dual boot, keeping Windows completely off the Internet, which gives him Windows for Quickbooks only. Linux reliably connects to the Internet with seemingly better throughput, giving him email via Evolution and surfing via Firefox. I set him up with some custom stuff to work with his digital camera (his own web space on a local Apache and some hella scripts to dump into eGallery). He never has to worry about viruses and most pop-ups are under control. He is truly thankful. I also gave him three live CDs to give to his kids to try on their machines. They never made it to the kids! He gave them away to people he spoke with the next day having troubles similar to his. Two out of the three are interested in a switch to Linux after messing around with the live CD, and the third will be a shoe-in once he gets a machine better than his Windows 95 current box.
You may bring more people over to the Dark Side, while helping many with their ongoing Windows troubles.
Click here or here.
Seriously, man.. You let computers rule your life. Don't let your computer define you. your computer needs to simply be a tool. Whether it has Windows, UNIX, Linux, MacOSX, whatever.. It's electricity running through a circuit board.. not a lifestyle. Zealots.. sheesh.
What is your penile percentile?
Arse Eater Linux 9.0 - The scent of release.
The Linux that bites...
This sig intentionally left blank.
Try the Damn Small Linux bootable 128MB thumb drive. Sure, it costs more than a 128 MB thumb drive should cost, but you're supporting a cool Linux project. (Note: I have no affiliation with the DSL project)
If your friends boot it and don't like what they see, they can alway reformat and have a handy thumb drive.
As an aside: While DSL is cool, it is not the best presentation of Linux to a first time user. Its minamilist configuration (under 50 MB) is a little too sparse... Anyone know of a good distro that aims to stay under 128MB that's a little more full-featured and will fit on a cheap thumb drive?
--Aaron Greenberg
I've found that the best live-cd to give to non-tech friends is movix. A specific-purpose cd seems to be more useful to people, maybe because it fits into a niche. Or, maybe I just know a lot of people who have trouble getting dvd software to run in windows . . ..
Don't save Windows XP! http://www.petitiononline.com/jjw1xp/petition.html
... "It's Christmas already! Turn the damn computer off and come out of your bedroom!"
Well you must have thought it newsworthy, otherwise why did you read down this far to post your comment! :P
Most people just skip the irrelevent stories without reading all the comments
I see nothing funny there. Just a fact m'aam.
In the other news - this probably is the saddest post on the slashdot I have seen in my live. I wonder - how many of those christmas card receivers will turn around just to never look back.
It's worse than spam, you know - now you are emotionally obligated to try that shit out.
But installing Firefox? That's pretty low-risk, and people may do it for kicks. Bonus points if you set the default home page as a web page delivering your holiday greeting of choice.
"Still think it's not something you want to find in your XMas stocking?"
Yes. Still. And I'm quite sure that if you will use those credit card sized thingies I won't even be tempted to put it in my iBook.
I've had great luck with Knoppix.
You might want to include a FAQ with questions like "Why is this running slower than Windows?" pertaining to the fact that it's running from a cd and not the hard drive.
Just remember they can run into problems.
Computer is not set up to boot from CD.
Drive won't read CD-R's.
Many other problems can arise. Some of these problems should have no reflection on installed Linux, but people will associate them forever with Linux.
Also use regular CD-R's, mini ones and business card size can cause all sorts of odd problems. Some people have slot drives, or put their computers on the side, etc.
Some "Ask Slashdot" questions seem a little overly simple, but the point is not necessarily to get all the answers from the Slashdot crowd, we all know Giigle will always be a better tool for RAW info. The point of "Ask Slashdot" is to gather the opinions of peers about a subject that a lot of us may be also be interested in.
I personally am getting a little tired of dismissing every question with a derogatory comment and a link to google.
Of all of the live-cd's that I've passed around to my non-tech (or just non-*nix friends), movix is the one that gets the best reaction. It's nice to be able to watch a movie even if your main os is having problems (due to reinstalling, driver problems, spyware/viruses, or being windows . . .). Plus, because it's so specialized (there's no other crap running in the background), it even works with older systems that might not otherwise play dvd's reliably. It is small, too (30 MB if I remember right), so it will fit on a mini-cdr.
Don't save Windows XP! http://www.petitiononline.com/jjw1xp/petition.html
While the original poster is undoubtably a linux fan, I think it's unfair to suggest he's being unreasonable. There are several articles, studies, and analyses that conclude running unpatched windows on a network is dangerous. You seem to be a diligent user who probably runs a gateway firewall, personal firewalls, and/or anti-virus software on all of your connected windows boxen as well as keeping them up to date through Microsoft's security patches, etc. However, the sad truth is that the majority of home users are not so diligent. Here is an article on survival time of unpatched windows machines connected to the internet. I have heard anecdotes from friends associated with SANS that the mean time between hostile probes of any given internet address is about 24 seconds. Given that most people do not take proper precautions when installing windows, most machines are comprimised before they are able to log into the windows update servers to check for critical patches.
So, where the initial poster was incorrect about it being possible to run windows securely connected to the internet, their defeatist opinioned posture is founded in some strong factual evidence.
Remember - add an additional card with short explanation what GPL is, why and how exactly it fits in their christmas holidays, and, of course, a signed CD containing the accompanying sources.
A little library (nothing in excess of 10-15 tomes) about unix/linux development and C/C++/Make basics would be helpfull too. After all - you want them to be able to allow them to use your *gift* fully.
Oh, and while we are at it - don't forget to call them afterwards at least twice a week and ask how are they doing with your *gift* and how did they liked it. Once they will actually run it (I doubt that), switch to the questions when they will start developing their own kernel form and how they intend to keep it compliant with GPL v3.
And then, imagine, THEY COULD LEAD THEIR OWN LOCAL LINUX MASTU^H^H^H^H^HINSTALL FESTS! Whoaw! Better yet start to organize them already.
I know - it's too late for the common sense to kick in in this one, so, at least, dont forget about the source.
No MAME games are included with the knoppixmame downlowd from sourceforge, but you can add games to the ISO. Now, to keep it legal, you just gotta find some royalty-free games. Not all copying is infringment.
You make the mistake of thinking you can educate the fundamental stupidity out of people. You can't.
This would be less complicated than running a bootable CD. They could start get more familiar with linux without loosing Windows in the background. Haven't try the thing yet altought...
:(
The downside, it has to be run on a writable media (USB Key,ipod...) wich will get your present more expensive
http://www.metropipe.net/ProductsPVPM.shtml
C-F
Make sure that CD is "good" and just get a consultation with AOL about the wonders of mass marketing.
They could lend you their snail mail adress database. And Microsoft could pay asociated fees for the first *get everyone at least 42 copies of that disk* run.
Sad thing - it probably would work - so the idea about Microsoft sponsoring such an PR stunt is off.
Oh well.
A lot of people here have criticised the use of a Linux CD as a gift. When you add Goatse wallpaper, however, you have the gift that keeps on giving!
Of course, I don't really know what this will do for Linux awareness...
--Erik
If you have an nVidia card, there's a nice little perk in Mepis' "System Center": you just say "use the nVidia driver", and it works.
ATI can be a very different story. Wish they'd come out with some reasonable drivers for linux. But I've gotten it to work with my Radeon card -- it needed a kernel recompilation -- the first I've ever done -- but it worked splendidly after that.
For linux at this point, nVidia's the way to go for 3D, baby. And Mepis isn't a bad distro to get it working.
One person I know hasn't been able to get online for months, and has spent hundreds on getting their computer fixed. I gave them a linux CD (install) after making sure they didn't mind that everything would be wiped, and they knew enough to configure their dial up. I haven't heard back yet, so maybe they're dead, or catching up on porn.
My suggestion for a window manager is definitely Gnome. I'm no dummy, but KDE seems to have a bigger learning curve. My coworkers are happily using Gnome, and don't really notice a difference from Windows 98. As they were already moved to Firefox and Thunderbird, I didn't have much trouble.
As far as the busted hardware, I am one of the few people (that will admit it on here) who blew up a monitor with a wanky custom Knoppix, NOT the one from Knoppix, and probably due mostly to a tard sandwich I enjoyed earlier that day. It can happen, but most likely not - if you shut off any way to get into the 'mess with your video' at start up, everyone should be fine. At worst, they're out a cool Linux CD, at best they'll call you up and ask how to get it working. (Then you're in trouble - at least it's not Windows - 'Uh, ok, go into the registry...' Ugh.)
I think its a fine idea, and encourage you to do it. There may be one person out there who really appreciates the ability to use their computer again, if only to surf the web and use email without fear.
So ends my Expert and Unassailable Take on This. (Which was really just to get you to read this comment - I know how /.ers can't resist a challenge :)
It's not his gift. It's part of the card. I'm presuming that the actual gift wil be in the attached box.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
A more effective way of spreading opensource for windows users, especially those who have *never* used linux, is to not have them try linux at all. Rather, give them a gnuwin CD. GNUwin rulez. Example apps include putty, VideoLan Client, Gimp, OpenOffice, mplayer, audacity, winLAME, ghostscript, Cdex, Octave, gnuplot and TightVNC just to name my faves. No new commands to learn. All in the same, familiar MS Windows environment they are comfortable with. Just point and click and before they know it, they're hooked on open source.
Take audacity+Lame for example... I have used it to record some foreign language vocabulary words to a wav file, and then used winLAME to convert it to mp3 to listen on my mp3 player. Ghostscript to convert *any* document to pdf. CDex is the *most* straightforward CD ripper, period. Gimp works great for me as a Photoshop substitute. I use gnuplot for automated plot generation that leaves Excel in the dust. For math/engineering students that use matlab but can't afford a (legal) copy - octave is a formidable replacement which can use many scripts with little alteration. When you look at the software that these applications can replace - you are looking at a very useful, valuable gift that requires minimal time investment to learn. Live distros are cute, but I haven't found much use for them.
While it may seem like a nice thing to give out live cd's for linux, you might go fruther giving out a copy of the The OpenCD instead. It's a compliation of open source software for windows. You can also compile your own, I like to give out CDs with Firefox, Open Office, GIMP, Gaim, and a few free games. A bootable linux distro is just likely to confuse people, but software that they can use on their computers all the time without having to boot into a new OS is useful. As a side bonus, most people don't know about OSS or realize that the software is free, so it seems even more valueable ;)
Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
340 posts and noone mentions xsnow! Hand in your geek cards, people.
Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
Best live cd I have used in years is the latest SuSE 9.2 Live cd intended for demoing SuSE Linux. Great hardware support, slick interface, very comfortable to use. Also up and running very quickly.
I read the script, and I think it would help my character's motivation if he was on fire. -Bender
So, which live CD is the best, if I define "the best" as "most likely to boot up and work with absolutely no tinkering, and provides the ability to do something useful once it is booted up?" Not messing up my Windows setup would be a high priority too.
What kind of inconsiderate asshole gives Linux as a *Christmas present* to his non-geek friends and family? This is the worst kind of gift-giving - the kind given for the benefit of the person giving it rather than the pleasure of the recipient. I'm vaguely reminded of the episode of The Simpsons where Homer buys Marge a bowling ball for her birthday.
Christ, what a bunch of cocks.
Yes, many end up as coasters. But I have gotten positive feedback from dozens of people, negative feedback from two, and "could you help me learn this" from many. On slashdot, you have gotten a lot of negative feedback from a bunch of reactive people that have never tried this, or even thought it through very much; their opinions are unfounded and worth very little.
You will probably want to include some explanatory information. I put a "Dr. Bronner" style label on my CDs. See http://www.keithl.com/knoppix.ps for an example. I modify the index page and startup information so there are pointers to help pages. I install the latest Mozilla, and apt-get the latest security mods more often than Klaus Knopper does. I assume that most of these CDs will sit on the shelf for a while, but will save people's butts when the next Windoze worm hits. I don't want there to be any unnecessary vulnerabilities to hypothetical Linux worms.
I run a complete image check after I burn the disks, so I am not passing out dead disks. I use high quality media (Taiyo Yuden or equivalent). Still, there are some CD drives that choke on some CD/R media, and I get some calls about this. A couple of disks got replaced. The fact that most CD drives are NOT marginal and most CDs work suggests that I am NOT getting calls from most people that try it. 90% of users, voters, etc. do not communicate positive feedback - you have to extrapolate from the 10% that do.
A lot of people try the disk, and go back to Windoze. That's OK; Linux isn't for everyone ... yet. But many are thrilled to learn that their computer can do something besides what it already does, and that empowers them and kindles their imagination. Folks may be forced by circumstance to live through a New York winter, but it is nice to know that Tahiti is a reboot away.
At the end of the day, nobody is forced to install or even look at these disks, This is not like some telephone solicitor calling during dinner. On the other hand, these disks have saved more than a few people's butts already. Like my sister-in-law, who was faced with an update to XP and a new computer to support it when Comcast told her they would not support her old Win98 machine anymore. A switch to boot-from-CD Linux saved her $1000.
And you meet interesting people this way. I have had talks with an Amish furniture maker, the CEO of a billion dollar medical corporation, and a number of others that were really enthusiastic about discovering Linux. These and other contacts were worth the time and cost of making those thousand Knoppix disks, and the potential embarassment of passing them out to strangers. I am only sorry that I don't yet do enough volume in a two month period to justify getting a run pressed professionally. But I know what to do when that situation occurs.
Do not embark on this unless you want to spend some time helping people learn. But in the future, when software becomes inexpensive and service becomes a differentiator, practicing on friends and relatives will teach you a performance advantage. It will also educate an important source of seed capital for your Linux service startup. So be ready to help the people you care about, ignore the carping naysayers, and go for it!
Keith Lofstrom server-sky.com
I'd skip the Linux live CD and give a charitable donation to The Human Fund instead. It's much more meaningful.
Meaningful to the world at large, perhaps, but you're missing (what is to most of us) the whole point of Christmas or season's greetings cards: to communicate with family and friends. Donating to charity has no connection with that whatsoever, and deliberately saying "I donated to charity with this card" comes off as pretty egotistical--it's implying "now did you?", which is not really a warm greeting.
For that matter, I don't see how giving people CDs and donating to charity are mutually exclusive in the first place . . .
I've been a linux user since 95, work with it, code for living and all that, but ...
to go preaching around with it like that? It just sickens me. I mean I go absolutely ballistic with all these jesus-this-jesus-that religious f*ckers. Don't do the same under the linux label, please.
Not to mention, I still don't understand why do we have to assimilate every one of those barely-interested-in-computers to using linux? While admittedly windows still serves them better. My better half has accepted linux, but see it from her that she does it for no other reason than me. And I can only imagine what people like her would think after receiving a freaking live cd for xmas. What some of you guys fail to understand is that they just dont care. They should, but they wont. I mean, I know I should care about politics, but frankly I don't give a rats ass about that either. Getting a political pamphlet as a xmas card from some "friend" of mine would just tick me, nothing else.
1 Earth is warming, 2 It's us, 3 it's royally bad, 4 we need to take action NOW
Just think of all the tech support calls you'll get from your family. Most of them will probably call wondering why it didn't work, more and more BIOS's come default to booting direct to HDD to decrease problems with the 'users' of the world. But on the bright side you'll get to talk to EVERYONE you sent a disc to for some supprt issue - unless you're a family of techies, in which case they already know what linux is and you'd be better off giving a bootable linux movie disc so at least thier entertained by an attempt at a slideshow or video. Maybe thats just my family, but either way I get too many tech support phone calls from them already, nevermind giving them a reason to call for support. Good luck!
-- Eekrano
Easy: Install the "keg" game from here
;-)
If you are a lousy programmer and cannot read the code, here are some hints
More seriously. Make sure you have Shockwave/Flash installed on the live cd's, or people trying out the browser experience will get pretty disappointed. (Visiting their favorite page, and it "doesnt" work.
Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.
Aristotele
DVD Knoppix is good ( http://iso-top.de ) . UNESCO Linux is good (Look for freeduc-cd ). SuSE Live 9.2 is good. Better if you glue in a 'qemu' and make it able to autoplay-boot virtually under Windows. Puppy Linux on a USB stick is also good. Who needs disks ?
News for nerds indeed!
I like the idea. Why not try it out and give a report back later? This is what I think will happen: They will ask you the next time you visit what you gave them because it didn't work in their cd-player or computer. You sit down and show them and they will think it's a fun idea.
Then. The next time people in the news mentions Linux, they will say something like: "Yeah! I've tried Linux. I'm up-to-date in this computer-place-thingy-stuff. This intur-newt-thing."
It's fun. It's nerdy. I can't see why all you so called "nerds" are so negative. If it doesn't hurt anybody. Why is this such a bad idea?
Insert `fortune -o` here
Knoppix also has a bug for setting the timezone. It chooses the timezone based on the keyboard you pick. For the US keyboard it's EST. If you're not in the proper timezone, you pretty much have to rewrite the /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig file.
There are two fixes: One is to hardcode the proper TZ into the knoppix-autoconfig file. The other is to fix the bug for setting the timezone.. at that point you can set the timezone in the isolinux.cfg file without having to recompress the whole KNOPPIX filesystem.
My TZ patch is here. Once you install it, you can use 'tz=America/Vancouver' (etc.) on the boot line, or change the isolinux.cfg file and write a new CD (far easier in my mind).
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
These are are Gnome, but seems statistacally the more hardware compatible in the test I did for my dissertation, they include all the basic stuff, firefox, openoffice, gaim and the gimp without overwhelming the user with too much choices as Knoppix will for instance
Get a Mac
Couldn't resist :)
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
Not saying that the others don't but Suse 9.2 does just this. Novell Linux desktop too - 25 mins and completely installed, no fuss.
If that's what you are looking for then it can be found.
When I want to show people how totally full of dorks Slashdot is, I'll just point them to this article. The responses here are classic dorkery. Stereotypical nerdiness.
Really guys, he posted a question about which Live distro to give to friends with their Xmas cards. Instantly, a war erupts.
Everyone is yelling at him that it is the worst gift to ever give someone. IT'S JUST SOMETHING IN A CHRISTMAS CARD! If I got this, I would be like "oh, cool ... he must be into this" and give it a try ... whether I was the computer guy I am or not! If the people can't figure it out or aren't interested ... big deal ... who cares?
I've only seen a handful of real recommendations ... the rest has been Comic Book Guy type bickering. Are you trying to stop him from doing it or what?
Great work folks. This one's for the Hall of Fame.
our written thoughts are gifts to our future selves
For maximum WOW be sure to include XDesktopwaves!!!
I really like this idea. And if I get a little bit of spare time in the next few weeks I might just do the same for (some of) the christmas cards I'll be sending this year.
Do you have any plans for typing up a small page somewhere with the results of the efforts you put into this?
It's 19:11:42. Do You Know Where Your Meat Body Is?
Wow,
It seems like I'm the only person who read this and thought, "Hey! I should do that too!"
Honestly though, stop giving the guy such a hard time. I talk to lots of people who tell me they've been vaguely wanting to try GNU/Linux but didn't know how/we're scared to try/etc. I first tried GNU/Linux by using a SuSE Live CD, and now I run Debian on all my computers.
So long as the CD Label provides a few simple but essential instructions, it could be really appreciated by some recipients.
The labels should say something like: This is a version of GNU/Linux. Put this CD in your computer's CD-Rom drive and restart the computer. You will get a demonstration of GNU/Linux that will NOT alter your hard drive or damage your current Windows operating system. Did I mention it has games? Enjoy! For more information, check out: http://www.mepis.org (assuming you put Mepis on the CDs.)
Like Digital Freedoms? Then donate to EFF before they're gone.
I hope you at least compare MD5sum's on each disk.
Good quality CD-R's aren't all that expensive if you want to avoid giving coasters.
How 'bout a movie with Movix or GeexBox? It doens't have to be an illegally copied movie. It could also be a home movie or something, but it would demonstrate the flexibility of Linux to them without the turn-off of other complex (as in "Where's the blue 'E' so I can get on Yahoo" complex) features.
I agree with the parent. Linux is not something an average (novice) user would use, unless if all of the author's friends are tech savvy people.
I think it will be better to give a Firefox cd instead. It will be more acceptable, and probably more useful too.
Puppies amd lambs for the little kids
A cool car wreck for teenage boys
Father Cristmas in drunken, dope crazed, orgy with the elves for weird uncle Hiram.
End the splash with, "But wait, there's more".
Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle!
As well as being able to boot into Ubuntu linux desktop, the Ubuntu linux live CD also includes Windows versions of OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Thunderbird, Abiword, Gimp, PDFCreator and Audacity. These use the installer from The OpenCD.
Andrew Yeomans
As several other people have mentioned just giving an empty operating system isn't going to turn your average family member on a great deal. I'd focus on the content and give them something compact like http://www.geexbox.org/en/screenshot.html (which already has a Christmasy theme built in!) and then preload it with a few video and audio tracks and a couple of photos. Stick that on a mini CDR with a big clear warning about not using in slot loading drives and you've got a funky little card/present which just happens to run on some weird OS called Linux. Then your crazy scheme might just succeed in not pissing anybody off!!! ;)
Personally I agree with an earlier poster in that I'd go for something like knoppix mame.
But if you must choose GNOPPIX then make sure you turn off spatial browsing !
Otherwise the poor recipients will think they've gone through an evil time warp and been given some god awful Windows 95 "style" OS.
Ho ho ho
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
Seriously, why would you give anyone Linux?
Take a moment to compare the BSD and GPL licences and tell me which one makes more sense (warning: requires thinking). One of these licences lets a company freely use, improve, and re-release pieces of code into the public domain; the other requires you (as a company) to release your entire source base if you want to use one single function from an open source project. Guess which one of these licences has attracted a huge amount of outside development from companies like Apple, and guess which community has directly benefitted as a consequence.
It's no wonder a majority of BSD code looks like it was written by experienced programmers and most GPL code looks like it was written by (and oddly attracts most of its attention from) people who are still learning the fundamentals of programming at school.
Linux evangelists always blabber on about how much more "free" the GPL licence is. I don't buy it. I think the GPL is its own worst enemy.
Off topic I'm sure, but I just can't understand why anyone tries to push a pseudo-free platform like Linux when there are actually free platforms like FreeBSD that attract outside commercial support (effectively for free). Surely this model benefits everybody (unless you buy into Stallman's "everybody should be a GPL/Linux Nazi and LGPL/BSD/Microsoft/etc. is the root of all evil" propaganda).
Why don't you give away a FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD CD for Christmas (or preferably something else all together, it was a stupid idea in the first place)?
... and I'm writing this in Konqueror on Linux.
But that's beside the point. Even if I were Joe Average running Windows, I wouldn't have any use for it. In fact, _especially_ if I was Joe Average.
There's a certain kind of zealot which assumes that:
A. The OS is a purpose in and by itself,
B. That everyone's idea of a fun hobby is reading man(1) pages and wantonly replacing something that already works,
C. Only using Windows because they're too retarded to even know that somehing else exists.
In reality, all those assumptions are false.
And what I'm saying is that for Linux to make progress, more people have to get out of the "Windows users are ignorant retards" mentality and start asking themselves "well, what _do_ they find in it? What does Windows do well?"
Because invariably any software designed on the presumption that "users are idiots and we know better than them" ends up something that those users don't actually want to use. E.g., if you look on Freshmeat you can see a ton of crap GUIs that were obviously made not to be good functional GUIs, but starting from ideas like "bah, those idiots just have a fetish for colourful buttons and icons. Might as well throw a heap of them in."
And because any advocacy that starts from such pre-conceived notions, instead of listening to the user's needs and formulating a sane solution, is actually counter-productive. It ends doing more damage than good.
In this case, it proposes to throw a user into a desktop they don't know, without any explanations or assistance. It's akin to teaching someone to swim by throwing them into water and walking away.
Someone who actually booted that CD won't even know WTH is all that, what can they do, where's their Photoshop icon, where's their AOL icon, etc. Even assuming they found Mozilla and found out how to read emails with it, all their AOL address book and settings are seemingly gone. Even assuming that they found the Gimp and figured out they can edit their digital photos with it too, it's a very different GUI they don't understand. Etc. And there's noone nearby who can help them.
It's the kind of a traumatic experience that says "NO THANKS! I DON'T WANT TO EVEN HEAR ABOUT LINUX EVER AGAIN!"
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
The point was not that "gifts which provide you with hours of fun are bad", but rather that "gifts which require more hours of unwanted _work_ and _effort_ on the receiver's side are bad."
Legos or video games are an example of a good gift. They didn't require any unwanted effort from you.
An example of a bad gift, on the other hand, would be if I gave you an XBox game if you don't even own an XBox. And then pestered you to play it. It requires more effort on your side than it required on mine. You get to spend some 150$ on an XBox, whereas I only paid some 50$ for the game. Plus the time spent going to the shop to buy one, etc.
E.g., since you mention a bike, giving a bike to an adult who doesn't already know how to ride one is a bad gift. It requires a lot more effort from them to learn to use it, than it took on your side to carry it out of the shop. And it's unwanted effort: if they wanted a bike, they would have already bought one.
And the bike makes for a good analogy with the Linux CD. It throws someone up a learning curve that they probably didn't want in the first place. To get any use out of it, they have to spend days learning new stuff. Days which they most likely didn't want to spend that way. Definitely not around christmas.
So basically, as was already said, unless you know for sure they're interested in Linux, I'd avoid that kind of a gift.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Most of us know the power of alternatives. Knowledge of alternatives is also power. A gift of power is not bad. A huge extra value comes in the unwritten promise of support. And just because none of your relatives may benefit, many of his might.
Arachninecronymphocranialpheliaphobiacs Anonymous
"Freedom. Later, they tell us. But we know the time is now!".
Now that freedom isn't as in anymore, what about "Command lines. Later, they tell us. But we know the time is now!"?
I believe we should have learned about the command line in school, because it is such a simple and basic thing. But since schools don't seem to think so, maybe this is the opportunity to learn it in a minute right here, rather than later:
The basic principle is to type Then, press the Enter key.
Of course, you are not expected to remember the commands that are available or the exact options they accept. That's why you have a few very basic commands, which are the only ones you need to remember. In Windows, type help . When you found the command you feel may be what you need, type help command_name or command_name
In Linux, type apropos something to find commands related to "something". Once you found the command, either type man some_command or some_command --help to get the details you need.
In Windows, you will notice that options are preceded with "/". In Unix, it's "--" or "-" for single-letter options. Also, in Unix options are always right after the command, while in Windows, they can sometimes be after the arguments.
Well, that's about it. The huge adavantage, is that these commands can become quite complex, but can be simply copy-paste'd from web pages, emails, whatever, instead of going for a hunt through zillions of menus and options with constantly changing names and layouts. And you can send the resulting screen to your favorite geek if sommething is unclear.
Try the simple
ping debian.org.
Isn't it easier for checking your network than starting IE and then getting absolutely no useful information out of it if it doesn't work?
You're also prompted to download and install one package that isn't installed by default (nvidia-glx).
This is a guess, but could it be that a distribution can actually ship with a proprietary Nvidia driver only if it has contracted with Nvidia to do that?
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
The best distribution that i have found is SUSE. it has the largest hardware support and wifi too. As for the the GUI, KDE may be the better choice since it takes less recources than Gnome. Set the res @ 1024 x 768 @ around 65 Hz refresh. This is supported by most monitors in the 15 - 17 inch range. keep in mind the average memory is 128M. b.
I'd recommend Metropipe's PVPM
Its not a live-CD, but rather an emulated virtual PC (via QEMU and DamnSmallLinux ISO image) that can run off the hard drive or better yet a USB thumbdrive. It can work with Windows or Linux.
I've tested it on my hard drive and its pretty impressive. It got me to testing QEMU with other live-CD ISO images...
The best (smallest) live distro that I have tried is Slax (http://slax.linux-live.org/). They have now produced version with Wine etc to smooth the transition...give it a go :-)
John
I think the point most people are missing is the fact that he IS sending this out with cards, not as an actual gift. So this goes out to all the guys at the office and weird people from High School you still run into occasionally, etc., not the close friends and family demographic. Most people would look at the disc, shrug, and hand it to their kid. "Here, Bob sent this, see if you can figure it out". The kid would probably be able to figure it out, and there you have it. A couple of weeks later the family PC Dual boots windows and linux, then a few months down the road the only time anyone loads up Windows is to play a game or two, right? I don't see the scenario as being far fetched.
pwn($n00b); print ("pwn3d!\n");
But if he adds a nice background picture, starts xsnow by default, and perhaps includes some nice xmas song as startup music (if there is something free to use, of course), then I'd say it's a nice idea.
^_^ All of those modifications make sense if you perhaps rig them to only happen for a few times (difficult with a LiveCD, I'd wager) or only for the holiday season, at least if you're hoping to convert people. Sure, the first few times, right after Christmas, having your computer sing Jingle Bells to you is cute, but could you imagine it still doing that in July?
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
How many prople do you know that listen to Christmas music once the season is over?
I can guarantee that if I gave anyone in my family (even the more technically inclined) a live linux cd, based off a free Linux distribution, I'd be greeted with fake "thank you's", and that kind of attitude which says "Thanks - I got you something that you wanted, and which I paid money for, and in return you got me something I didn't want, won't use, and for what it's worth, it's something you downloaded for free, so you didn't really give me anything".
Perhaps it's just me, but I can't picture anyone wanting such a present. Those who would be interested, can typically download and burn an iso easily themselves, and have more than likely done so already.
I saw someone mention "Stuff it with games", at the the top of this thread, and I almost laughed out loud! If you stuff it with Linux only games, you can likely delay the recipients disapointment until they're at home and discovering the sad state of Linux games (Tux Racer - Whoo!). Conversely, you could stuff it with emulators, and console roms (gameboy, sega, Nintendo, etc), of course if you do this, you're then in kind of a grey area, as far as legality goes.
Not trying to troll, or insult anyone, but if you have a family who would appreciate a live Linux CD, then your family is very different from any family's I know of.
Don't be cheap - Buy, or make them a present (note: "make" does not mean burning an iso file to CD), and make it one that they'd like. Don't make Xmas a political event, or try to turn it into a Linux vs. Windows debate. Xmas is a time for being with family and friends... Save your soapboxing, and your bandwidth, and just get them something they'd like.
And, if you really want to, include your burned live CD's as an added bonus to their real gift.
Now that I'm older, I want to spend my time doing interesting things. Anything I buy I want to be something techy or some kind of cool toy. So, once having someone else follow the fashion trends for you and pick out clothes is actually quite convenient. Yes, as a kid it sucks, but once you get old, it's a good idea to rekindle that activity. "Mom! I need more boxers|socks|shirts|etc!"
Why bother.
what part of 'its not a gift' do you not understand? its just in the cards he sends out.
use your turn signal! you people act like it's divulging information to the enemy
This Puppy does boot from a CD, or a flash drive or your hard drive.
It's also house trained.
with a copy of firefox & instructions. runs under familiar Windows, does a familiar thing in a new way.
I have nothing witty to fill this space with yet.
I'd be very careful about the computer knowledge of the people you give these to. Consider the fact that a lot of people have no idea what a bootable CD is, nor do they realize that their computer can boot another OS and will be baffled by what's happened to all their stuff. I'd suspect there's a pretty good chance that you'll end up with a lot of irate people calling you asking what you did to their compute!!
I stole this Sig
Linux CD with the Xmas card - cool idea.
I'd only recommend mailing a CD to nerdy friends and relatives. For everyone else (most people), I'd wait until the latest Outlook worm trashes their system and they call you for help. Invest a couple of hours installing your favorite distro, with OpenOffice and FireFox. Give them a few obvious-as-hell icons on the desktop. Tell them "You're now running Linux so you won't have problems with computer viruses." Hopefully, a couple of months later when they're still enjoying a stable and secure PC, they'll tell their friends and relatives how great Linux is.
BTW - Xandros now has a free demo version. Not quite a live CD, but it will quickly partition a hard drive, install a boot loader with a dual boot menu, and not mess with Windows , in case anyone wants to give it a try. Xandros is very newbie-friendly. Other than the lack of crashes and infections, your relatives probably won't know it isn't Windoze.
>> My ultraviolent Linux switch video.
If it's going to be part of a Christmas card, then I would say personalize it with a Christmas greeting. Maybe have a nice animation pop up when the desktop boots. (Make it worth their time to check out the disk.) Then when it's over (and they should be in a good mood now) they'll find themselves at the Linux desktop. Which they can choose to explorer if they want. Or not. It's up to them. (Be sure they know how to exit too!)
Another thing I would do is create a web page explaining what the disk is and have it autorun in windows (like Knoppix does) in case they pop it into a running windows machine.
I can't remember the name of it now, but there's even a program you can use that creates a linux boot cd that just plays back video. I know that isn't what the author is asking for, but it might be nice for someone else. Just record a Christmas Greeting to someone and place it on the boot disk. Then the receiptant boots with the disk and sees your message. (No worrying if they have the right codec -- because its on the disk.)
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
To show you how much
I care this holiday season,
I give you this card,
with all the reasons,
that...
that...
It's pronounced Lin-uhks you crazy old bat!
--Rob
Towards the Singularity.
Google for microsoft astroturf
http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/edcurry/astroturf.
they can start installing with the live cd... you should include also a copy of at least on of the stages, and a printed version of the handbook could be handy... although your cards might get a bit bulky ;-)
I can see 90% of the people receiving a Linux Live CD putting it into the cdrom on their XP box and expecting it to auto-run. nobody would know to put it in and reboot.
?SYNTAX ERROR IN LINE 42
I have a new notebook with an AMD64 cpu and I want to try out a few distro's w/o installing them....
However, I have only gotten Gentoo to fire up. Does anyone know of a good multimedia AMD64 LiveCD?
Audacity
BitTorrent - probably doesn't belong
Blender
FlightGear - along with our local scenery area
Gaim
Gimp
GnuGo - never seen any interest in this (duh)
GTK - for Gimp and Gaim, but it adds confusion
Inkscape - version 0.40 due any day now
Maxima
Mozilla - FireFox and Thunderbird
Mplayer
OpenOffice.org
Python - for the geeky kids
VideoLan
All this crap fits on one CD. I don't usually distribute it in quantity, but it comes in handy rather often. No one wants everything on it, but there is something for everyone. I also include an HTML file that lists descriptions of each program and links to the project web sites. Whenever someone tells me about the "free" copy of some commercial package they have, I just give them the CD and tell them which legally free package to load instead. In some cases, the free version offers something they don't have with the ripped-off one they've been using.
One guy at work actually wanted to stream video over his network at home. I gave him the CD and said "install VideoLan". After some setup issues, he has everything he wanted and is rather happy with it. It really goes over well when you fulfill an need people have.
If you've got a Phoenix BIOS:
Hit Delete...
If you've got a Dell system:
Hit F2, or maybe Delete...
etc...
This would be a really neat idea if everyone was interested in this. I just taught my mom the difference between right- and left-clicking; there's no way I'm going to get her to be able to boot into Knoppix and tell it to use the right screen resolution she's used to...
I don't moderate anymore. Karma penalty for 90% fair mods? Can I mod that unfair?
Most of those items are on The Open CD, with a really nice installer on the front end. ISO available here.
Everyone will start to cheer when you put on your sailin' shoes.
A great live distro just for fun! http://www.morphix.org/
The smartest man in the whole, wide world really don't know that much. - Mose Allison
I've had people threaten to make a donation in my name to organizations that I oppose.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
a pair of slax
What?
Amazingly enough I was smack in the middle of reviewing a half dozen live cd's when this article
popped up on the radar.
Knoppix 3.6
Mepis 2004-04
pcLinuxOS Preview 7
slax 4.2
suse 9.2
mandrakeMove 10.1
dsl 0.8.4
The criteria was to give to a know nothing about
nothing newb with a new state of the art pc
with 512meg ram, nvidia video, dvd-burner, broadband, AC97 sound and their desires where
Finds all pre-existing hard drives and makes them
available for read/write (fat32)
Play commercial music cd's as well as mp3's and ogg
Auto dns/dhcp using Firefox default browser
Play commercial dvd's with sound
Use usb keys of any size 512/256/64 etc
See smb windows intranet shares
Come with Office, gnucash, p2p file sharing,
irc,icq,all automagically working with no
setup tweaks other than startup questions
Only one did all these things...
It was pcLINUXos preview 7 from texstar
Everything worked perfectly right outta the box
no hand holding...no tweaks...
So now I have to look no further to find my
Xmas noob live linux cd to give away
I thought knoppix was gonna take it but it
failed to read the larger usb keys because they
are represented as hard drives sda instead
of floppies sda1
and it has no p2p app....
ciao...
It only died for three days, but then it was forked into a new incarnation.
The Rise and Fall of Online Community
...on X-Mas, try this:
If your people don't live all in the same place (and have high-bandwith connection), you might want to try giving them hardware VOIP phones. Grandstream BT-100's are quite cheap and you can call them any time for free saying you love them.
Or, if you're not having much money, why not build them some Kippenlights. Although the picture is from the beta-test, you should get the idea... All you need are some low power Leds and a blink-circuit of your choice. Mine runs on a 9V block for about 10-12 days apiece.
Look, this thing is totally safe! Built it myself, you know. You just press that button like this and then turn that lev
Be careful of the difference between a gift and a present. A present is something the giver likes himself, but a gift is something the giver thinks the recipient will like.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Hey, I found GISKnoppix on the list provided. Very cool. Now I can get in trouble at work for handing it out!
Not Winsocks, surely?
Julia Cameron
Oich ù agus hiùraibh éile
how about the easiest and most used? Mac os X. If you have a couple thousand dollars to spend.