Web design rates - Chapter 11 . Running KNOPPIX 333 See Chapter
Saturday, November 10th, 2007Chapter 11 . Running KNOPPIX 333 See Chapter 17 for information on using a bootable Linux as a firewall/router and Chapter 18 for descriptions of many other bootable Linux distributions. Examining Challenges with KNOPPIX For most people, KNOPPIX is a special-use Linux system. It s a great way to try Linux or to access a computer that isn t set up the way you like. However, there are a few challenges with using KNOPPIX that you should keep in mind: . Reboot clears out KNOPPIX Unless you save your data to some other media (which you can do, as I describe later in this chapter), the entire KNOPPIX system goes away when you reboot. That means files on the desktop, installed software, system configuration, and anything else you do during your KNOPPIX session will be gone unless you explicitly save that information to a hard disk or some removable medium (floppy, CD, and so on). . Memory limitations KNOPPIX is made to be able to run without touching your hard disk, so when you save files to KNOPPIX, they are (by default) stored in your computer s memory (RAM). On my desktop system, which has 512MB of RAM, KNOPPIX assigned about 3MB to the root (/) partition and 396MB to ramdisk (to provide space in the /var and /home directories, where data is normally stored). So there is only about 100MB left to hold all the running applications. . Performance hits Even with today s faster CD and DVD drives, it s still slower getting data from CDs and DVDs than it is getting them from a local hard disk. Almost every component needed to run KNOPPIX (commands, libraries, and so on) is grabbed from the CD or DVD and decompressed onthe- fly. So it can take a bit longer to run commands with KNOPPIX than it would to run them from hard disk. (Watch the blinking light on your CD or DVD drive to see how often KNOPPIX goes there to get data.) . Uses your CD/DVD drive Because KNOPPIX relies so heavily on data from the CD or DVD, you can t remove it while you are using the system. So, if you have only one drive for removable media, you can t use it to access a music CD, install from another software disk, or burn data while you are using KNOPPIX. Tiny multimedia players such as GeeXboX and MoviX can run totally from memory because they have very limited, specific functions. So you can put in a music CD or video CD or DVD to play content after the bootable Linux is loaded. I must admit that the challenges described here are more of an explanation of how KNOPPIX works than they are problems with KNOPPIX itself. The idea that you can run a full-blown desktop and server operating system from a single CD (with nearly 2GB of available applications) is an awesome concept for someone who still remembers DOS and character terminals. Note Cross- Reference
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