News from the LiveCD World
CLICK reviews SLAX.
Slax is a live CD that I’ve been very anxious to try. Any distro that claims to be light on hardware — yet features the KDE desktop — is something I’ve got to try. I’m beginning to think KDE gets a bad rap. It runs pretty darn well in this distro, as well as in MepisLite. And I think KOffice is a terrific package, with KWrite being one of the best programs out there for writers.
DistroWatch has the announcement, also check out the official changelog.
The GParted project has released a LiveCD which allows Ghost-like efficient disk and partition imaging over a network.
UnlikePartimage or ntfsclone, which only for partitions. Clonezilla, containing some other programs, can save and restore not only partitions, but also a whole disk.
Unlike G4U or G4L, in Clonezilla, if file system is supported, only used blocks in harddisk are saved and restored. This increase the clone efficiency.
The new Python on Planes rapid development framework comes with a Live CD installer. Cool!
Major highlights in the release include Active Scrum Manager 1, Sanity Preserver 3.13 and Lart 22.21. This is also the first release with the PythonOnPlanes Live CD Installer officially debuting on the x86 platform.
Tuxmachines.org has a howto for putting Knoppix on a USB flash drive and making it bootable.
Of course, it can be even more portable when it runs entirely off of an inexpensive USB key. So let’s install it to a 1 GB USB key, and create a persistent home directory in which to store files. Only let’s do it the lazy way, and keep use of the command prompt to a bare minimum.
TimesDispatch.com points to LiveCDs when a reader asks for an easy way to try Linux.
Q:I just tried Windows Vista and was soooo impressed that now I’d like to try out Linux. What is the best way to dip my toes into the Linux pond?
Desktop Linux reports on the release of Sabayon Linux 3.3 LiveCDs.
Geeks.com tech-tips has an intro to Linux LiveCDs.
A Live CD is a great way to test out Linux without worrying about what it may do to your computer.
Linux.com takes Dreamlinux 2.2 for a spin.
When it comes to choosing a Linux distribution, people tend to stick with the major players, such as Ubuntu, SUSE, or Fedora. However, every once in a while a distro comes along that offers a look at Linux in a new and fun way. One such distribution is Dreamlinux, a Morphix-based implementation of Linux that can be run from a single CD or installed on a hard drive. Dreamlinux 2.2 aims to offer a full range of desktop applications while providing a wealth of multimedia tools for easy production of professional-grade media.
The Tech Report used a Linux LiveCD to benchmark the latest processors from AMD and Intel.
notfred’s Folding Benchmark CD tests the most common work unit types and estimates performance in terms of the points per day that a CPU could earn for a Folding team member. The CD itself is a bootable ISO. The CD boots into Linux, detects the system’s processors and Ethernet adapters, picks up an IP address, and downloads the latest versions of the Folding execution cores from Stanford. It then processes a sample work unit of each type.
Debian/Ubuntu Tips & Tricks has step by step instructions for copying an Ubuntu LiveCD to a USB flash drive. In the end you get a bootable flash drive, which can be used for installing Ubuntu on a computer without a CD drive, or getting the LiveCD experience with something you can fit in your pocket.
OSWeekly takes a look at some kiosk LiveCDs.
TriedIT takes the Sabayon Linux 3.3 LiveDVD for a spin.
Sabayon Linux aims to give users all the bleeding edge software of SimplyMEPIS and PCLinuxOS but is based on Gentoo and uses Portage as its package management system. I haven’t used Gentoo for a couple of years now, but Sabayon’s popularity is continually increasing and with a new release it’s now time to give it a try.
KNOPPIX 5.2 has been announced and will probably be showing up on the torrent sites soon, with an official release public release of 5.2.1 coming in April. Some of the major changes are inclusion of the Beryl 3D desktop, NTFS-3G 1.0, and a boatload of virtualization technologies.
As announced on Heise.de, the first special edition of Knoppix 5.2.0 is included in c’t magazines 7/07 issued during CeBIT 2007. This version is only available within the german magazine, plus distributed in limited numbers at CeBIT 2007, Heise-booth in hall 5, and at the booth of Rheinland-Pfalz in hall 9, C39/21. The next public download edition (5.2.1) will be issued as CD and DVD probably in April 2007.
GNOME LiveCDs are back and showcasing Gnome 2.18. Looking at the name of the ISO image, I’m going to guess they’re based on Foresight Linux.
DistroWatch Weekly looks at a new version of Wolvix, and talks about the collaboration between them and Ultima.
..are over at [Phoronix]. There is new artwork since the last 3.26 release.
Informit.com checks out Moka5.
I’ve got Damn Small Linux (DSL) running, trying to debug a thorny UNIX application issue. And I’m doing all of this from my iPod Photo.
The Star Online has some instructions for using Darik’s Boot and Nuke to erase hard drives.
Sabayon Linux 3.3 is out with a huge list of changes, including new artwork for the LiveDVD and the website.