MRudas
06-15-04, 02:25 PM
Here's an easy way to check out a Linux and a variety of Linux GUIs on-the-fly: Knoppix<BR><BR>Its a bootable "live-Linux-on-CD" distribution based on Debian. It boots entirely to RAM -- it doesn't even touch your hard drives by default; in fact, you have to explicitly turn on write-enable if you need it (it will read/write FAT partitions, but NTFS is read-only). I have even used it as a Windows rescue disk and as a means of testing hardware. Since it auto-detects most of what's out there, I can often separate problems with hardware from Windows software & driver gaffes.<BR><BR>Although KDE 3.0 (soon KDE 3.1) is the default GUI, you can also specify other common interfaces on start-up. These include Gnome, IceWM, and several others. This would allow you to compare and experiment without having to install ANYTHING -- simply reboot, specify the new environment, and off you go. You could also use Knoppix to demonstrate the differences to your associates.<BR><BR><a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.Knoppix.com">Knoppix.com</a> for downloads.<BR><BR><a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.Knoppix.net">Knoppix.net</a> for the user community.<BR><BR>I'm online with Knoppix right now -- it works GREAT with my SBC DSL setup.<BR><BR>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<BR><BR>Q. You cannot get (the CD) out of the drive unless you reboot the machine... second, is it possible to do an install from this disk?<BR><BR>A. Since the CD is an integral part of the Knoppix filesystem, it won't eject while "live" (think about it). You must log out or reset to enable disk eject. Since I have 3 CDs, this isn't a problem for me. Because the rest of the file system lives in RAM, a hard reset is OK -- but not something to do when running Linux from a hard drive...<BR><BR>On THAT subject, there IS a HD install script available. Check out <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.Knoppix.net">Knoppix.net</a> for tips and lively discussions on this topic. Be aware that Knoppix becomes a more-or-less standard Debian load when installed. <BR> <BR><a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://Penguicon.SourceForge.net">Penguicon!</a>