Slashdot Mirror
Knoppix To Split Into 'Light,' 'Maximum' Versions
prostoalex writes "Everyone's favorite Knoppix project will be split into light and maximum editions, which should end the argument on whether the Live CD operating system should focus on small footprint, or greater support for external applications." From the linked ZDNet article:
"'We will split the mainstream edition of Knoppix into two versions: a 'maximum' DVD edition with a complete Debian installation, and a 'light' edition on CD that contains the most popular desktop and server software only, for older computers or smaller systems that don't have a bootable DVD drive yet,' said Knopper."
You might want to download and actually give it a try. It doesn't touch the HD at all, making it perfect for data recovery or situations where you don't have permission to use the drive for personal use. It gives you a complete set of applications and leaves no residue on the system.
I'm curious, will Fluxbox be on this "light" disk? I ask because the summary says that the most 'popular desktop'. That would be KDE, but light it is not!
What if the entire Universe were a chrooted environment with everything symlinked from the host?
I can think of two fairly good reasons for always having a Live CD handy.
First, for those unfortunate incidents in which I screw up a new kernel compilation and lock myself out of my computer.
Second, for scaring the crap out of my computer teacher -- "What did you do to Windows? What the **** did you do to Windows?!?"
* Olaserov is in the process of thinking up a signature.
Is it digitally signed?
I know that Klaus Knopper doesn't see Knoppix as a Debian installer, but I think that he should take a second look at this, especially considering the idea of a "lite" and a "full" version of the Knoppix CD.
The "lite" version of the CD should allow for a simplified HD install, complete with Knoppix' superior hardware detection facility. Neither the official Debian Sarge installer nor the Ubuntu installer is as good as Knoppix for "figuring out" the hardware it's looking at. I don't know about Mepis because I've never used it.
Maybe if Herr Knopper won't do it, someone should fork Knoppix and do it for him.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Operating systems expand to fill the available boot media.
which should end the argument on whether the Live CD operating system should focus on small footprint, or greater support for external applications.
Not likely. It'll just mean that each camp will have a disc that suits them.
Microsoft is bitching about how people can't trust code that doesn't belong to them, Homeland security says we can't trust what should be a simple piece of software *by* them...
meanwhile, Knoppix is a wonderful, portable, safe, stable distribution that can go anywhere you do, and is so easy to use that my 87 year old grandmother who is so frial she can't leave her bed (we've had a hospital bed put in her room for her) can literally boot an old laptop (with DOS 6.2 installed) and use it to email and *even instant message* her grandson (me), who is 300km away.
And its free.
If there were *ever* a prime demonstration of what can be accomplished by OSS in action, surely Knoppix is that demonstration.
P.S. I told my grandmother about the microsoft-flaming-firefox thing... she said (and I quote, verbatim)"Someone should tell those... those... those Microstuff people (shes a little poor of hearing) to smarten up or be quiet."
Grandma, How I Love You.
- run Linux with/without a hard disk /etc/password or /etc/shadow
- evaluate latest software
- password recovery - allows you to reset
- file system fsck
- install to hard disk: you get Debian without the 'orrible Debian installer
A 'Behemoth' DVD I can keep in my kit, hopefully along with me excepting those "Oh Fuck" moments.
Actually, Knoppix does touch the drive if you have any swap partitions around. For any kind of forensics usage of Knoppix, pass it the "noswap" option.
I've played with Knoppix before, and think it's just amazing.
Just over a year ago, I inhereted an old K6-2 450Mhz box with a dead hard drive. As I had an old monitor kicking around, and as I typically hate having guests use any of my workstations, I decided to remove the hard drive and set the system up as a dedicated Knoppix box.
I dutifully downloaded the ISO and burned a CD, only to find that the machine in question had an old CD-ROM drive incapable of reading 700MB discs. So I was SOL (and eventually found Gnoppix, which did fit onto a 650MB disc this machine could boot).
I can't imagine I've been the only person to run into this issue with Knoppix, so I wonder if this new "lite" version will be designed to work on 650MB discs (although admittedly I had a bit of a rough time even finding such discs to burn that Gnoppix CD oh so long ago).
(And yes, I suppose I could spend a bit of money and buy a new CD-ROM drive for the machine, but it was a freebie, and is supposed to be a guest machine, so it isn't as if I'm personally hurting by not putting any money into it ;) ).
Yaz.
Step 1: read the article
Step 2: failing this daunting undertaking, read the article summary:
We will split the mainstream edition of Knoppix into two versions: a 'maximum' DVD edition with a complete Debian installation, and a 'light' edition on CD that contains the most popular desktop and server software only, for older computers or smaller systems that don't have a bootable DVD drive yet
Step 3: Try to find mods who also read the article summaries before modding people up.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
Will the download have a Verisign sig? If not, how can we trust it?
Silence is golden... and duct tape is silver.
I work with a charity that gives donated computers to schoolchildren.
Unless there's a canned one out there, it looks like I'm going to have to roll my own "ultralight" CD to give away to people still running mid-90s hardware: 16-64MB RAM, 500MB-1GB HD, 2-4x CD if you are lucky, 14.4-33.6 modem if you are lucky, ISA or early-PCI sound card and video
Example software:
Lightweight web browser w/ Java - FF if it's not too heavy
Lightweight word processor that opens/saves MS-Word 95 files
Lightweight spreadsheet that opens/saves MS-Excel 95 files
Lightweight "presentation" program that opens/saves MS-Powerpoint 95 format
ssh, ftp, etc.
lightweight games
easy-to-use modem-dialer
cd-audio player/mixer
MS-Windows remote terminal services client
and of course support for all kinds of older hardware one might find on computers donated to charity.
Boot CD with a single floppy.
Anyone know of a canned Linux distro or bootable CD that fits my needs?
Anyone see any glaring ommissions from my software requirements?
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
You're forgetting about one thing. This is Free Software. There's no motivation behind releasing crippled versions. You just try to make it best possible within specified limits.
And people will complain, yes. No matter what to do.
I think that this could be a move that will start some off-shoots of Knoppix. It should be very good for Knoppix users.
MORE KNOPPIX OFF-SHOOTS??? NOOOOOOO!
(do you have a clue how many different Knoppix off-shoots are out there? HUNDREDS!)
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
this is a great idea i use Knoppix a lot and frequently on old computers but having some additional features on a dvd would be great for higher end systems and simplify carrying a bunch of cds or downloading some utilities"
:)
Is your version of Knoppix devoid of comma or period support?
Remastering Knoppix CDs is doable. If any of the standard Knoppix live cds don't meet your needs you can customize one of your own. Ce cil Watson will giving a talk at the Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE 3x) in February about how to go about doing this. Cecil is maintainer of KnoppMyth, a Knoppix distribution customized for use as a Linux based PVR with MythTV.
There are several - I usually go to http://www.linux.org/dist/index.html and select the "LiveCD" Category. This suggests a range of options, each with different advantages. I try out a new one every few months, just to get some variety.
One I tried recently, which is close to your needs is FeatherLinux (http://featherlinux.berlios.de/). I'm not sure about XL/Powerpoint in the default install, but it can install OpenOffice if you wish.
"Go to CNN [for a] spell-checked, fact-checked summary" -- CmdrTaco
What? No Menthol?