CD-Based Linux Distros
It used to be that the thought of
running an OS off of a CD was a little loony. The CD-ROM drives
were slow, the OS's needed some writable drive space for swap
file, temporary files and so on. But all that's changed with
improvements in the mechanicals of CD-ROM drives (much faster)
and the creative use of Linux.
Some of these distro are full versions
of Linux, some are mini-distros intended for a specific purpose.
As a general rule, they are intended to
be run on a 486 or better with at least 16MB or ram. As with any
operating system, the more CPU and ram you throw at it, the
faster it runs, but some are designed to be used on minimal
systems. This is very worthwhile for, as an example, a distro
like Gibraltar which is designed to be a hack-proof firewall. If
you combined Gibraltar with brand new, low-cost hardware like the
thinkNIC (plus a second USB ethernet device), what an
ideal low-buck solution for the SOHO market it is.
Take at look at 'em. Try them out, and let us know what you think of them and how you use these CD-based
Linux Distros.
SuperRescue CD
Homepage at www.kernel.org/pub/dist/super
rescue/
- AUTHOR/MAINTAINER: H. Peter Anvin (of syslinux and devices.txt fame), hpa at transmeta.com
- BASE: Red Hat 7.1
- KERNEL: 2.4.5pre1
- FOCUS: full distro, rescue disk on steroids
- FILES AT: www.kernel.org/pub/dist/superrescue/
- COMMENTS: "SuperRescue is a single very large
bootable system-on-a-disk. It's based on the observation
that the vast majority of systems allow you to do so much
more than the minimal system. Therefore, it isn't for
everything, but for most desktop systems, it provides a
much nicer rescue environment than your average rescue
floppy. It requires an i386 PC with 24 MB of RAM and a
bootable CD-ROM. It (currently) does not include PCMCIA
support." It comes with a script to re-build the CD,
plus RPM's can be added easily. A very customizable CD-based
distro.
Basic Linux
homepages.ihug.co.nz/~ichi/baslinux.html
- AUTHOR/MAINTAINER: Steven Darnold, ichi at ihug.co.nz
- BASE: Slackware 3.5
- KERNEL:
- FOCUS: mini-distro, router/firewall
- FILES AT: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~ichi/download.html
- COMMENTS: "BasicLinux is a mini-version of Linux
that boots from HD, FD or CD-ROM and runs in a 4meg
ramdisk. It was assembled mostly from bits and pieces of
Slackware 3.5. BasicLinux contains the powerful bash
shell, the easy pico editor, and a variety of useful
utilities. With BasicLinux you can dial your ISP and
browse the web; or use telnet, ftp or fetchmail.
BasicLinux happily networks via ethernet, parallel port,
or serial port. You can even use it as a router/firewall.
BasicLinux comes as a 2meg zip file. Minimum requirements
are a 386 computer and 8Mb ram."
LinuxCare BBC
www.linuxcare.com/bootable_cd
- AUTHOR/MAINTAINER: The LinuxCare Bootable Business Card
CD-ROM Team, bbc at
linuxcare.com
- BASE:
- KERNEL:
- FOCUS: Recovery
- ISO AT: http://www.linuxcare.com/bootable_cd/download.epl
- COMMENTS: "The Bootable Business Card is a complete
miniature Linux system on a bootable CD-ROM disc in the
size and shape of a business card. It is a bootable mini-CD
which should work in almost any PC-compatible machine
capable of booting CD-ROMs. Boot our Bootable Business
Card and you have 108MB of usable software at your
fingertips. It contains a full complement of recovery and
rescue software. On the booted system are over 500
diagnostic programs, utilities, and networking clients."
The Lubbock Project
lubbock.sourceforge.net
The thinkNIC
www.thinknic.com
- AUTHOR/MAINTAINER: The NIC, Inc.,
- BASE: GNU
- KERNEL: 2.2.10
- FOCUS: Web browsing
- ISO at: Available with purchase of NIC, or at the NIC
site, but really only useable with their hardware.
- COMMENTS:"We
believe everyone should have Internet access -- without
the cost and complexity of a PC. We don't think people
should have to commit to expensive monthly fees, either.
That's why we've created the New Internet Computer, the
NIC. Starting at $199, the NIC costs less than the
cheapest PC. It supports popular plug-ins like Real
Player, Java and Macromedia Flash Player, so it's just as
Internet-capable. And the NIC is so easy to use. The
download of the current version is available to anyone, even
if you don't own a NIC. This is the only place you can get
NetZero softare for Linux."
DemoLinux
www.demolinux.org
- AUTHOR/MAINTAINER: Vincent Balat, Roberto Di Cosmo and
Jean-Vincent Loddo, demolinux at
demolinux.org
- BASE: Debian GNU/Linux
- KERNEL: 2.2.x
- FOCUS: Full Linux distro
- ISO at: ftp://www.demolinux.org/pub/demolinux/
- COMMENTS: "We wanted to make
it possible to everybody to look at what Linux can offer,
and to make it possible for software publishers wanting
to show their Linux-based software to distribute a no
hassle hands-off demo CD. But this kind of CD makes also
a wonderful Linux-to-go solution: you might carry your
favorite desktop configuration in your pocket, sit in
front of a non-Linux box, boot from the CD and be in
front of your preferred environment in minutes."
Gibraltar
gibraltar.vianova.at
Finnix
www.finnix.org
- AUTHOR/MAINTAINER: suggest@finnix.org
- BASE: Red Hat 6.1
- KERNEL:
- FOCUS: system maintenance
- ISO at: http://www.finnix.org/download.shtml#iso
- COMMENTS:"Finnix is a self-contained, bootable Linux
CD distribution, based on Red Hat Linux 6.1. Finnix was
created as a system maintnence distribution. You can
mount hard drives, set up network devices, repair
filesystems, and pretty much do anything you can do with
a regular distribution. Finnix is free, open sourced, and
released under the terms of the GNU General Public
License. "
Repair Linux
sourtceforge.net/projects/repaitlix
- AUTHOR/MAINTAINER: xant, xant
at users.sourceforge.net
- BASE:
- KERNEL:
- FOCUS:
- ISO at: repairlix-20000816.iso.gz
- COMMENTS: "Repairlix is a networked Linux
distribution/bootable system intended to fit in 12MB of
media - so small that an image can be burned onto a
business-card-sized shaped CD-ROM, suitable for your
wallet. It has a suite of utilities for doing system
recovery."
Linux - Live on CD
www.ocslink.com/~blunier
- AUTHOR/MAINTAINER: Mark Blunier, blunier at ocslink.com
- BASE: Debian GNU/Linux
- KERNEL:
- FOCUS:
- ISO at: http://www.ocslink.com/~blunier/livecd-0.18.tgz
- COMMENTS: "The livecd-0.18.tgz
source file contains the files needed to create a Debian Linux system
that runs without a hard drive. The system current uses a
boot and a root disk to boot. After the booting from the
floppy, a CD that is a copy of of the original file
system used to create the boot floppy is mounted, and
links from the root ram disk is made to the CD. "
SuSE - version 6.3 Live CD
Virtual Linux
- http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-linux/
- AUTHOR/MAINTAINER: mårten
sundling, crixz at users.sourceforge.net
- BASE: Mandrake 7.2
- KERNEL: 2.2.18
- FOCUS: Full Mandrake 7.2 distro
- Download at SourceForge
- COMMENTS: "Virtual Linux is a
Mandrake 7.2 that have been modified to run from cdrom
without need for a harddrive , modifications are new
startup script's , altered settings for x , drakx and
automatic search and mount of found cdrom's hard drives
etc , full Linux s. "
RunOnCD
- http://my.netian.com/~cgchoi/
- AUTHOR/MAINTAINER: Chyung G Choi, cgchoi@netian.com
- BASE: Red Hat 6.0
- KERNEL: 2.2.x
- FOCUS: Beginner's full distro.
- How To Order
- COMMENTS: "Because of the
difficulties of Linux installation, I tried to make
distribution of Linux just like installed Linux on hard
disk. So the beginner don't need to worry about any
installation process and test this system is really what
he or she want without installation. "
Ututo
OTHER
INTERESTING CD LINKS
mkCdrec
"The make CD-ROM recovery (mkCDrec)
tool was designed to recover from CD-ROM a complete Linux system
(Intel only) after a disaster happened, such as disk crash. It is
the purpose that you run mkCDrec tool from time to time to have
an up-to-date snapshot of your system. The tool was made to be as
simple as possible, therefore, do not expect a fantastic GUI of
some kind. All it need is a console, and in case of disaster you
will be glad to see a console prompt! Currently, mkCDrec can only
backup and restore EXT2 filesystems, but it is expected that more
file systems will be supported in the future."
Linux2order
Create a custom CD, shipped within 24 hours for $7.95 (price
subject to change), over the Internet, choosing from software
index by categories or from "pre-built" CD's.
CD POST
Using a IE5 plug-in (they told me a Netscape plug-in was
available too, but I can't find it), assemble a list of software
that they will download and burn to a CD for you for $6.95 -- the
first one is free.
CheapBytes
Linux -related CD's at very affordable prices.
Creating a Bootable Live Filesystem on a CD-ROM
From the Linux Gazette, a HOWTO with important and useful
references to the background info you need to accomplish this.
This is required reading.
Booting Windows From CD-ROM
Yeah, I know this isn't Linux, but this technique could be
useful if you want to move that last occasionally-needed MS
Windows app off your drive or if you want a virus-proof install
of MS Windows. Maybe you just need a Windows box on occasion for
testing and could use the machine for real work the rest of the
time.
CD Media World
All kinds of info about CD media. The mini-CD's (180MB) and
the business card CD's (50MB) are pretty cool, just expensive.
Sculpted
CD
Want a CD in some funky shape (and have the bucks)?
GameCopy
World
Need to make a legal backup of a copyrighted CD? Here's how to
do it, how to use it and what to do it with.
CD-Writing HOWTO
How it's done in Linux, from setting up the system to
troubleshooting. Hint: Aslo read man
mkisofs and man
cdrecord.
CD-Recordable FAQ
All the dope from the FAQ. This link points to page 1 of 4.
Lotsa stuff.
Thanks to: Seth Cohn and Billy Ball for
contributing information. And thanks to all the others who contribute bug reports about this page.
Links
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