4 ms·

Knoppix, now theres a name I havent heard in a long time. Booting off a live cd. The future in the early naughies. Well maybe not the future, but cool, and ve

Knoppix, now theres a name I havent heard in a long time. Booting off a live cd. The future in the early naughies. Well maybe not the future, but cool, and very useful.

4thaccount 8y ago
I put Linux on my computers in ~2011 using live disks from LinuxFormat magazine I think. It made the install and transition so easy and it was helpful when I started using Linux professionally (spend several hours a week in a terminal). They still sell LinuxFormat at my local bookstore and it still comes with live disks. So it is only now becoming less relevant now that CD/DVD drives are becoming less of a thing.
- sjwright 8y ago
  Also, the internet
- firmgently 8y ago
  Reading these comments I feel obliged to mention the Android app 'DriveDroid' which lets you store multiple disk images on your phone and then acts as a bootable USB disk. I've got GParted, CloneZilla, Alpine, Debian etc live disks always in my pocket. All I need is a micro-usb cable (which most modern homes seem to have laying around) to boot into various OSs and tools. No affiliation, I just think it's a cool free app and it's proven very handy for me loads of times.
  - zyberzero 8y ago
    Never heard of it, but it sounds really usable. Thanks for the tip!
  - gloflo 8y ago
    That sounds super useful! I wish it was free software and available in F-Droid though. Looks like the normal version even has ads.
geezerjay 8y ago
Knoppix was instrumental to lower the barrier to entry for those curious about that whole new linux thing but scared to screw their windows installation.
- perlgeek 8y ago
  That's right. Nowadays many linux CDs/DVDs/USB sticks start by booting into a live system, and then offer you to install it. Back in the days when Knoppix was popular, the major distros only had normal installers, so you needed a free partition for installation (or resize an existing windows partition to make room, which was very risky).
- kdbg 8y ago
  As a 9 year old in late 2000, Knoppix was my introduction to Linux. I wasn't asked to install Linux on the family computer (not that I knew how to). I don't remember how I first heard about Linux or Knoppix but I do remember those first magical moments using it. While I've had many influences Knoppix definitely was an early influence on my tech interests because it was so easy to start.
- usrusr 8y ago
  A worthy present-day update this way of lowering the barrier of entry would be a convenient, pre-configured way of running the same persistent set of configuration state and user home from either a boot media start or within a virtualized environment. Virtual container with optional full reboot. Does something like this exist?
  - lathiat 8y ago
    You can basically just install an OS on a USB key (or HDD) these days. Which solves that problem.
- IgniteTheSun 8y ago
  There is also a games version with quite a few games.
dazzawazza 8y ago
I still routinely use Nomad-BSD for poking about of machines... and my FreeNAS boots from a USB stick.
k__ 8y ago
In the early 2000 it was THE "tool" of choice for my IT support job.

Knoppix, now theres a name I havent heard in a long time. Booting off a live cd. The future in the early naughies. Well maybe not the future, but cool, and very useful.

4thaccount 8y ago

I put Linux on my computers in ~2011 using live disks from LinuxFormat magazine I think. It made the install and transition so easy and it was helpful when I started using Linux professionally (spend several hours a week in a terminal). They still sell LinuxFormat at my local bookstore and it still comes with live disks. So it is only now becoming less relevant now that CD/DVD drives are becoming less of a thing.

sjwright 8y ago
Also, the internet
firmgently 8y ago
Reading these comments I feel obliged to mention the Android app 'DriveDroid' which lets you store multiple disk images on your phone and then acts as a bootable USB disk. I've got GParted, CloneZilla, Alpine, Debian etc live disks always in my pocket. All I need is a micro-usb cable (which most modern homes seem to have laying around) to boot into various OSs and tools. No affiliation, I just think it's a cool free app and it's proven very handy for me loads of times.
- zyberzero 8y ago
  Never heard of it, but it sounds really usable. Thanks for the tip!
- gloflo 8y ago
  That sounds super useful! I wish it was free software and available in F-Droid though. Looks like the normal version even has ads.

geezerjay 8y ago

Knoppix was instrumental to lower the barrier to entry for those curious about that whole new linux thing but scared to screw their windows installation.

perlgeek 8y ago
That's right. Nowadays many linux CDs/DVDs/USB sticks start by booting into a live system, and then offer you to install it. Back in the days when Knoppix was popular, the major distros only had normal installers, so you needed a free partition for installation (or resize an existing windows partition to make room, which was very risky).
kdbg 8y ago
As a 9 year old in late 2000, Knoppix was my introduction to Linux. I wasn't asked to install Linux on the family computer (not that I knew how to). I don't remember how I first heard about Linux or Knoppix but I do remember those first magical moments using it. While I've had many influences Knoppix definitely was an early influence on my tech interests because it was so easy to start.
usrusr 8y ago
A worthy present-day update this way of lowering the barrier of entry would be a convenient, pre-configured way of running the same persistent set of configuration state and user home from either a boot media start or within a virtualized environment. Virtual container with optional full reboot. Does something like this exist?
- lathiat 8y ago
  You can basically just install an OS on a USB key (or HDD) these days. Which solves that problem.
IgniteTheSun 8y ago
There is also a games version with quite a few games.

dazzawazza 8y ago

I still routinely use Nomad-BSD for poking about of machines... and my FreeNAS boots from a USB stick.

k__ 8y ago

In the early 2000 it was THE "tool" of choice for my IT support job.