Posted on 07/20/2010 8:24:33 AM PDT by Willie Green
Live CDs, DVDs or USB drives let you run Linux without actually installing it. Here are five reasons why you should.
Computerworld - In the almost 20 years since Linux was first released into the world, free for anyone to use and modify however they like, the operating system has been put to a lot of uses. Today, a vast number of servers run Linux to serve up Web pages and applications, while user-friendly versions of Linux run PCs, netbooks, and even Android and WebOS phones.
One incredibly useful way that Linux has been adapted to the needs of modern computer users is as a "live CD," a version of the operating system that can be booted from a CD (or a DVD or, in some cases, a USB drive) without actually being installed on the computer's hard drive. Given the massive RAM and fast CPUs available on even the lowest-end computers today, along with Linux's generally lower system requirements compared to Windows and Mac OS X, you can run Linux quite comfortably from a CD drive.
Live discs allow you to radically transform the nature of the machine you're working on -- without modifying the installed operating system and software at all. There are a number of reasons you might want to do this. The most obvious is to test a new version or different distribution of Linux before deploying it, saving yourself the surprise of incompatible software or nonfunctional hardware after installation. But even if your business does not plan to deploy Linux as a desktop or server operating system, there are still good reasons to have a live Linux CD or two on hand.
~~~SNIP~~~
Here are five ways to use live Linux in your business, as well as pointers to distributions best suited to each particular task.
(Excerpt) Read more at computerworld.com ...
ping
Thanks Willie. Think I’ll get this and turn my boys loose on an old desktop we can’t boot anymore.
/johnny
And it still has less than 3% market share.
That's certainly not the case with regards to business servers.
Was the article about business servers?
I just used a Linux based LiveCD Antivirus to rid my laptop of a particularly persistent piece of malware. Worked as advertised. Definitely something to keep in ones arsenal.
good post Willie G
Thanks Willie. Think I’ll get this and turn my boys loose on an old desktop we can’t boot anymore.
You're welcome!
There are a seemingly bewildering variety of linux distributions to choose from, but I strongly recommend "Linux Mint" as being extremely user friendly for newbies.
It just so happens that Linux Mint 9 LXDE was just released, Which features a "lighter weight" deskstop and suite of applications that are more suitable for older computers. Of course, KDE, Gnome and a few other varieties of Mint are also available if you prefer. But that's one of the advantages of a Live CD... try each of them first before you install!!!
Good luck!!
No. Nor was it posted as an invitation to Linux-haters to point out some non-important statistic on market-share, starting yet another flame-war between acolytes subscribing to their particular brand of faux-religious adherence to one OS over the others.
It's about stuff we can use Linux to do. Obviously, the article wasn't directed at you. No need to take personal offense to people who actually like to use Linux and communicate with each other.
It's not always about you.
Go away, please.
I don't see the board of directors or shareholders worried about it. Oh, yeah, there are none.
/johnny
I keep a supply of various Linux Live CDs on hand for my work. I use them for everything from cloning hard drives (Clonezilla), recovering data, performing computer forensic examinations (Helix, PlainSight, DEFT), network penetration testing (BackTrack), cleaning up infections, etc. I will also use them if I need to borrow another person’s computer to access my bank account or any other sensitive information.
But then, I am a computer security professional, and have need for a lot of things the average user does not. Still, an Ubuntu live CD is a good tool for even the average user to keep around.
Not precisely true. There are several flavors of Linux that are developed and promoted by corporations (SuSe Linux by Novell, Red Hat, Caldera, Ubuntu by Canonical). While they may not sell the OS, they often sell services related to the product, so the boards of directors would have at least SOME concern over market share...
I tried to create an UBantu Boot CD but couldn’t connect to the internet...
There is a lot more to the story but suffice to say over the years Linux has been very very good to me:)
That's why I'm here to provide a valuable service to people who may consider wasting unrecoverable precious moments of their lives trying to use Linux for their desktop.
I do have some Linux Live Cd's stored away somewhere ready to go if I need them. Just my luck, they probably won't boot up on my new system.
Go away, please.
No
But then, I am a computer security professional, and have need for a lot of things the average user does not. Still, an Ubuntu live CD is a good tool for even the average user to keep around.
Yes, I fully expect computer professionals to be aware of linux' capabilities.
However. I think that many "average users" need to be made aware that they don't have to be a computer professional to have a need for linux. Especially those users with older computers with older versions of Windows that MS has dropped support.
Linux works on those older machines, is easy to use, is UP TO DATE and is FREE!!!
No need to run out and buy a brand new computer system just because MS no longer supports the older ones.
/johnny
Nope, just a bunch of angry adherents who get enraged at people looking for help, because they didn't buy hardware compatible with their particular distribution.
/johnny
LOL
Nothing like a Puupy Linux USB device to crack a Windows ‘password’ and get a forgetful user back up and running. You are right, most IT pros have one (or more) Linux based tools for those odd problems.
Just for work, of course....
I think you are barking up the wrong tree here.
The best way to figure out what is going on is to go to the forums at ubuntuforums.org. Make a post in the "Absolute Beginner Talk" section. They'll help you out.
There's a number of things that could be going on. It depends if you are on a DSL, Cable or dial-up connection. Each is handled differently. And there are some commands that you can type into the "terminal" that may be able to fix the issue immediately.
Don't give up! I've been using Linux full time for about 4 years. There is some *great* software in the Ubuntu repository. And it's always good to have that Live CD sitting around in case Windows acts up.
Best wishes!
Yes, a live CD can be useful in a technicians bag of tricks, but it’s not going to work in every situation, and it’s really a last resort. And people who have the tech knowledge to use a live CD as a recovery tool have already known about it for many years. They also know that Linux has its uses on servers and other applications. Thus, there isn’t that much new or informative in the article.
Bookmarked
Dittos on the Linux Mint.
Good stuff.
The article was in fact a small compendium of knowledge that was already out there. It was informative to me, and I appreciate the post, and I say that as a Windows proponent.
Ping
I could care less if you’re a Windows proponent. I don’t know why you keep repeating it. I have nothing against the post being made, especially since I can add my own comments.
A bit over-dramatic, IMO.
BTW, my comment was intended to be a bit over-dramatic.
Another more specialized use is Devil Linux, which boots from a CD and turns a computer into a standalone router. It stores its config on whatever writeable drive it finds, but otherwise doesn’t require a hard drive.
Because I realize that there are Linux geeks like the Apple Fanboys who will defend their favorite to the death. I'm not one of them. Perhaps that is why I found the article informative and useful, and why I continue commenting in this thread. Otherwise I would be wasting my time.
You achieved your goal, and then some.
I hate to be the one to break this to you, but I’ve used a machine with 2 NICs in that capacity across 4 versions of Windows and 2 of Sygate now. It’s not exactly the toughest thing to get right....
Oh, and the same machine’s still plenty capable for anything else, from watching movies to browsing to playing Japanese fighting games and World of Warcraft.
Is the 2 NIC configuration really common enough to make Devil Linux even worthwhile overall, though?
LOL!
This laptop has only had linux on it--since 2003. It's always been my most productive laptop and my safest.
This is about the only way I can use Linux. I hate changing my hard drive to let it run...I still have the boot loader from ubuntu on my machine even though I uninstalled ubuntu.
You’d have to be insane to run Windows as a standalone router. The neat thing about Devil Linux is that it doesn’t do anything else, and boots from a CD. You don’t have a bunch of daemons (services) running on a router that doesn’t need them. I have no desire to play games on my router.
By no means are you limited to 2 NICs; you could add more and have 4 interfaces. As far as the “2 NIC configuration,” a network card is like $10-20. You just pick up an extra or two and put them in.
I’ve used Linux pretty much exclusively since 1997, and my laptop runs Debian with VMware for when I need to run Windows or Solaris for testing something, every once in a while. Otherwise, I just have no need to run Windows.
So when one finally finds hardware compatible with Linux, they really stick with it.
LOL!
Bookmark
bump
I think I got my first exposure to linux with Mandrake 7 something. I went to Libranet for a while...I even paid for it. Used Mepis for quite a while as well. I resisted the newcomer Ubuntu for a long time, but now it's all I use.
Ubuntu 10.4’s pretty nice, what with the cloud feature and all.
Linux Mint (Ubuntu derivative) has the closest “look and feel” to Windoze that I’ve come across so far.
while user-friendly versions of Linux run PCs...
Let’s be honest here. There is nothing “user friendly” about Linux.
So I was testing a version of Knoppix and figure out the problem that I have to edit FSTAB. I figure I’ll just create a new file, make the changes, then rename the files.
Who’d a thunk that there doesn’t appear to be a simple rename command? To do what I needed, I had to use the Move command! Silly me!
And God forbid I should try to “man” something to see what a command does. It dumps 12 pages of info at me and I still haven’t figured out how to get back to where I was! ESC doesn’t work. None of the Fx keys work. Reboot works...
And the applications? About as consistent as McCain on the immigration issue...
That’s what you get when you have armies of 14 year olds who never went on a date writing code.
Linux is an interesting curiosity. The platypus of operating systems. Possibly perfect for servers you run out of you closet or basement.
But calling it user friendly is a statement of fantasy and wishful thinking.
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