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Puppy Linux Lets You Run From, Save To The Same CD

qewl writes "Now there's a live CD that can actually save data back onto its own disk! How does it work? The PC boots with a multi-session CD inserted in the CD-burner drive -- thus, Puppy Linux automatically knows which drive is the CD-burner, in case you have more than one CD/DVD drive. Then you use Puppy in the normal way. At shutdown, all the changed files in your home directory are saved back to CD. That's it. Next time you boot, all the personal files are restored!"

27 of 277 comments (clear)

  1. Hmm..birthday present! by 7Ghent · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, my girlfriend DID say she wanted a puppy.

    1. Re:Hmm..birthday present! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
      PuppyLinux is not necessarily a good birthday present for your SO

      Wow. Thanks, Captain Obvious. You saved all two nerds with girlfriends from imminent failure.

  2. Interesting, now for the next level... by kcb93x · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is cool. I'll have to take a peek at it, but what would be really cool (mainly due to the size of modern distributions) would be a DVD +/- RW version of this, if Knoppix can compress ~2GB of software into a 650MB CD, think what we can do with 4.7GB of space...

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    1. Re:Interesting, now for the next level... by ErikTheRed · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Heck, dual-layer is pretty cheap now.

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    2. Re:Interesting, now for the next level... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If Knoppix can compress ~2GB of software into a 650MB CD, think what we can do with 4.7GB of space...

      hmm.. *scratching head* ~14.4GB?
      or perhaps 2 chicks at the same time?

  3. Re:Puppy linux? by snuf23 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah I guess it should be called:

    Mutlisession CDR Bootable/Saveable Linux

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  4. yeah, but by carambola5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    yeah, but does it run lin...

    oh, nevermind

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  5. DVD? RW? by Apreche · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Will this thing work with a CD-RW? How about a DVD? DVD-RW? If it only works with a CD-R that's sort of useless because the CD will eventually fill up, and its basically a one-time use deal.

    What would be extra cool is if you could combine this with something like the gentoo catalyst livecd making software. So not only could I save files on the RW disc but could also customize which software is on the disc to begin with. So if I wanted to get rid of X and save more space for files I could do so.

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    1. Re:DVD? RW? by timeOday · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I wonder if you can pop in a fresh CDR at shutdown and have it burn a copy of Puppy + the current state of all your files? The media cost of CDR itself is hardly a concern.

    2. Re:DVD? RW? by BlastM · · Score: 5, Informative
      Of course, the CD is going to fill up eventually, so what then? No problem, at shutdown Puppy will automatically ask you to insert a new blank CD and will place a fully working bootable Puppy on it, create a first data track, and off you go again.


      So yes, it burns a new one, once you need it.
  6. Its been done by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Linspire "Thriller" (membership req) LiveCDs have been able to do this for some time.

  7. nice! by ErichTheWebGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I was just discussing this earlier about whether Knoppix could do just that. I suspect it will only be a matter of weeks or even days before we see a Knoppix version that can also do this.

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  8. Re:hmmm by snuf23 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Shush! 640MB should be enough for anyone!

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  9. At last! by c0l0 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Finally an application for rewriteable optical media that truly makes sense. Another nice feature is this distribution is cached into system memory completely at runtime, so you're able to unmount and use your CD-RW-drive for other tasks while running this system as well.

    This project deserves to be watched closely in the future, I'm eager to see what it's gonna offer in the future.

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  10. Forensics? by Chrontius · · Score: 5, Funny

    I predict this becoming big with the tinfoil-hat crowd -- they'll burn one session with music and keep it in their discman until they need it; then they've got their bootable Linux, and a way to get data out of a secure...

    This is reading like the plot of Alias, isn't it?

    Who cares. This is cool enough that I'm going to keep a copy in my backpack.

  11. Encryption might be good. by un1xl0ser · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a great idea.. but it says "The files are saved on the CD as normal files, not encrypted or compressed."

    That's great for Windows compatability, but I'd prefer my files to be encrypted, even on a livecd.

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  12. Uhh... by inertia187 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm pretty sure that burning a puppy is illegal in most states. And I'm pretty sure that's doubly true for re-buring. Remember, Dead Puppies Aren't Much Fun.

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  13. USB Key? by xtal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wouldn't using a flash USB key make a lot more sense? Or am I missing something here?

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  14. Re:Puppy linux? by AaronStJ · · Score: 4, Funny

    Could they have picked a gayer name?

    No, they could not have. This name is more sexually attracted to other names of the same gender than any other name.

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  15. Re:DVD? RW? Read the FAQ! by splante · · Score: 5, Informative
    Read the FAQ

    Why should I use a CD-R, why not a CD-RW or DVD disk?

    I do not recommend a CD-RW simply because it isn't necessary. A CD-R is "write-once", but in multi-session mode, tracks can be written one after the other, up to 99 tracks or the CD becomes full. You could use a DVD-R, however I would discourage you. Puppy has a mechanism for keeping track of deleted files, and this may become unwieldy if a very large number of deleted files have to be kept track of. This mechanism works on a per-CD or per-DVD basis, and is going to be more manageable with the smaller number of files on the CD. Also, it could take years before you fill-up a DVD, and in the meantime, unless you leave it permanently in the drive, there is the increased risk of it being scratched. Note however, this is tentative advice -- it may turn out in practice that a DVD-R is a good way to go.

  16. Good for data recovery and such by Arthropod · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Anytime you need to get info off a messed-up pc that can't transmit to a useful network location, and doesn't have USB-ms drivers on it, but that has a cd-rw, this sucker would be a godsend. I've booted up on a knoppix cd more than once with the idea of writing files to a cd using knoppix. Though I suppose it would work just as well to boot into something that can load itself completely into memory, and free up the drive.


    Anyhow, even if some of that is available, it might just plain be convenient. I like the idea, anyway

  17. dogs & cats by brer_rabbit · · Score: 4, Funny

    since you can only have 99 tracks the CD, wouldn't "Eleven Cats" would be a more fitting name? Or "99 bottles of Linux"?

  18. Internet Cafes by headkase · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Wouldn't using a live CD as your OS as an internet cafe owner save you megabucks on the hard drives you didn't have to buy? Not to mention no spyware dangers, or no users mucking up the configuration of the machines? And as a customer, simply rebooting when your done would clear all sensitive information.

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  19. Yup. by sootman · · Score: 4, Funny

    They don't come
    when you call.
    They don't chase
    squirrels at all.

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  20. And its going to Everest! by luckytroll · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have archtected Puppy Linux in a laptop on an expedition to Mt. Everest - the Flash/CDROM combination will enable the laptops to work above 18000ft, where a lot of hard disks "pop" out.

  21. Torrent by gamepro · · Score: 4, Informative

    I know I know, TF is infamous for the curropt LG3D file. Sorry about that, it was an accident. Heres a torrent for the puppy-1.0.0alpha-firefox-multisession.iso it's tested and works, pretty cool too. You have to be a member to DL the .torrent file, but we don't care who acesses the tracker. If someone wants to mirror the .torrent they are more the welcome to. heres the link for members http://www.titaniumforums.com/torrent/software/ind ex.php

  22. Re:I may be a bit out of date on cd-rs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually its 28 mb for inital sessions, and 13mb for following sessions. http://www.mscience.com/faq67.html