[Gllug] Best single CD Linux distro

[NorthLondon John]

On 19 Mar 2005, at 13:11, Matthew Cooke wrote:

> I'm looking for a single CD linux dsitribution that we (Computeraid) 
> could ship with refurbished computers and I'd be interested in hearing 
> other peoples opinions on the various options.
>
> The situation is as follows:
> We will not be preinstalling the CD.
> The computer hardware is x86 old stuff min spec: 64MB P2
> The computer hardware is very variable.
> Users may not have massive amounts of experience using computers.
> Installation to disk is highly desirable for obvious reasons.
> Users may not have Internet Access.
> These will be mainly desktop users, office applications, web, email, 
> etc, are required.
> Microsoft Word compatibility is desirable.
> Once we've decided we'll be stuck with the choice for a while as we'll 
> be getting thousands of CDs burnt.
>
> So far:
> Mophix light struggles with 64Meg ram and doesn't do automatic 
> partitioning.
> I'm trying Ubuntu linux right now, and this seems very suitable from 
> reading the website.
> I'm going to try knoppix.
>
> Has anyone else tried Ubuntu? Is there anything else I should try? Any 
> other opinions?
>
> Thanks,
> Matt.
>

Hi,

I use Ubuntu, and it's very much my preferred distro. On the Ubuntu 
Sounder list recently, there were discussions about spreading Ubuntu 
around the world, especially in conjunction with recycling 
organisations like Computer Aid (I did a bit of volunteering there a 
few years back).

  Ubuntu has the following advantages for you:
1: Absolutely free.
2: Designed to 'just work' - no one should have to edit a config file, 
GUI tools for everything.
3: Secure (no services on by default) and rock solid.
4: Internationalisation efforts very prominent, both in providing 
languages and in setting up an infrastructure (rosetta) for more 
languages to be added.
5: Develops quickly, bugs get fixed, things get made easier for the 
user on a daily basis.
6: Single cd by design. Comes as a live cd and an install version.
7: Good hardware detection; most of the problems here I think are with 
very new machines and dodgy laptops.
8: Curses based installer. Personally, I find these much easier than 
the graphical ones of  Red Hat and Mandrake. For low spec machines, the 
eye candy is too heavy. It's based on the very fine Debian installer, 
and is smoothy and simple to use.
9: Word compatability via Open Office and Abiword - I think the distro 
playing field is level here. There is a Wine developer doing some work 
for Ubuntu, so if there are old copies of Word lying around, it might 
just have an edge.
10: great community of users and developers, and the backing of Mark 
Shuttleworth / Canonical, who have put their money where their mouth is 
(giving free cds away to anyone who wants them.)

The only major disadvantage I can see is with resources:
64mb is not very much. I installed it on a 233mhz / 64mb ram, and it 
was slow as molasses. Doubled the ram and got a much better 
performance.
Out of the box, it comes with Gnome desktop. (There's another version 
currently in beta with KDE). This is just too heavy for low spec 
machines. Using XFCE or something similar is essential.

Against this, there are many people who are interested in doing an 
Ubuntu Lite - there's  been discussion of this on the ubuntu-users 
list, and a mini-ram howto page is up on the wiki. (The homepage is:
http://www.binonabiso.com/en/Ubuntu-miniRAM-HOWTO.html )
Projects like recycling computers and helping the global south get 
technology are very much a part of the core Ubuntu idea, and that is 
one of the aims

if you are going to burn thousands of CDs, I'd consider getting a 
customised distro. That might sound like more trouble than it's worth, 
but with the community (users and developers) behind you, it will 
proceed pretty quickly, and provide long term support.

I'd very much like to get involved in this.

Regards

John


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