knoppix question

[Brian Densmore]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Joe 
> 
> On Mon, Dec 13, 2004 at 10:42:38AM -0600, Brian Densmore wrote:
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: D. Joe
> > > 
> > > On Mon, Dec 13, 2004 at 08:48:20AM -0600, Brian Densmore wrote:
> > > > I've booted Knoppix on my laptop which only has 96MB RAM.
> > > > I didn't touch any keys to do this. Now to be fair there is
> > > > a swap partition on the drive and it may have seen this and
> > > > used it. In fact the creators would be foolish not to look
> > > > for and use it.
> > > 
> > > How foolish it is depends on what you use the disk for. 
> > 
> > Yes, it is all relative, but based on the designed use/audience
> > for Knoppix (aka, GUI desktop, Linux newbies, Windows users),
> > it would be most desirable to boot using as much power and with 
> > as little interaction as possible. Hence I made my comment 
> [. . . ]
> 
> >From the knoppix.org main page (English version):
> 
> "KNOPPIX can be used as a Linux demo, educational CD, rescue
> system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial
> software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything
> on a hard disk."
> 
> So, I guess it depends on how one reads that list--as a set of
> design goals in order of decreasing importance to the designer,
> or as a simple enumeration of the kinds of uses one might
> anticipate.  
I am not contesting the usefulness for Knoppix, but they do state
Linux demo and educational CD *before* rescue system. Any Linux distro
can be used as a rescue system, so stating that as a goal is redundant.

> 
> I suspect you've conflated the design goals of the disk with the
> uses to which you put it.
Perhaps, but we differ in our interpretations. Yours is perfectly
valid and I consider mine so also. Opinions are after all opinions.


> 
> > as I said before Knoppix isn't the ideal distro for
> > troubleshooting broken systems. There are much better choices
> > for such tasks.
> 
> How many different live CDs have you used to fix broken systems,
I have no need to fix broken systems. I have not had a broken system
since switching to Linux 7 years ago (or more).
[That is not to say that I haven't trashed my system by doing stupid
experiments, but I have not had a system break. In these times tomsrtbt
was all I needed. Or a new install of an upgraded version. I have yet
to lose a single character of data from a Linux system. I have
trashed: programs, libraries , rpm databases, and gentoo configurations.
None of which, I suspect, could be fixed neatly by any tool.]

> 
> How suited KNOPPIX is depends on the specific task at hand:
True. I was merely stating that *if I were to want to fix a 
broken system* I wouldn't want to wait for X to boot, for KDE to 
launch, etc. I am, I guess of the old school that way. If you
need to fix something, do it from the CLI. It's faster and you
most likely will have more control. But then I don't do much
in the way of fixing broken/borked Windows. I find it saves me
having to digest massive quantities of Mylanta. 

;')


IMHO,
Brian Densmore