[Gllug] Knoppix and similar

[Chris Bell]

On Thu 16 Sep, Andrew Black (li) wrote:
> 
> Hi
> I want to run Linux on a machine currently with Windoze.  I don't (yet) want
> to remove windoze or work out which partitions are wipeable.  Hence I want
> to boot from a CD.
> 
> I have an old version of Knoppix and was wondering if this is the way to go,
> or whether there are other similar version of Linux to look at.
> Do these versions have the ability to store settings on the HD of the
> machine?
> 
> One specifc question - how easy is to share a printer (parallel port and USB
> connected to this machine) using SMB protocol.   Do I have to run and
> configure SAMBA to do this.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
   The latest Knoppix version is 3.6, and there is a similar bootable CD
called Gnoppix. The main problems with these CD's is that they have many
security features switched off for ease of use, and are not really designed
to be easiy upgradeable. Instructions for writing to your hard disc are on
the CD.
   Do you have space and PSU connections for an additional hard drive? You
could then install a standard dual-boot system, with access to your M$
system (but unsafe for writing to any NTFS partitions that may be present).
I have retained a single copy of M$ on one box "just in case", but I can not
remember the last time it was used, and I would not even notice if the drive
has failed since.
   Most of my system runs on Debian, which did not have a reputation for
ease of installation, but the new installer can do a very easy simple
installation of the Debian version 3.1 "Sarge", (both now in testing but to
be released soon). You can download the latest version of the installer and
pull everything else you want from the internet. The businesscard version
does not have a full kernel, but will download the correct one during the
installation, or the larger netinstall will install a "vanilla" kernel from
the CD. You can then choose any from a huge number of packages (around 14000
at present) with a very easy upgrade system. 

http:www.uk.debian.org/

http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimage-testing/daily/

   The full set distributions have not been updated for a few weeks, I
believe that they are concentrating on the full release distribution and
rebuilding the sets of about 13 to 15 CD's for at least 10 architectures.

-- 
Chris Bell

-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug