Knoppix: Other Uses?

[Leo J Mauler]

On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 06:45:13 -0600 Greg Kedrovsky
<greg at iglesia-del-este.com> writes:
> I downloaded Knoppix (as you all probably read in my
> latest post) to fix a virus problem I had with a Win2k
> machine. Knoppix is stinkin impressive! I mean,
> download the iso, burn it, put it in a bootable cdrom
> and *bang* you have an entire Linux system. Incredible.
>
> So... I'm curious. What other uses do you have for
> Knoppix? It seems like a good tool to intro Linux to
> someone that's never seen it before. System tools, repair,
> emergencies, etc. But, if you have a minute, could you let
> me know what other ways you use Knoppix, if you use it
> at all?

Well, think about what KNOPPIX is for a minute: a CD which boots entirely
into RAM, doesn't touch the hard drive on the system for anything, and
you have permission to tweak the CD into whatever you need it to do
(including adding additional specific packages or data files).  If
there's a problem, reboot and the system comes back completely clean.
Viruses and other trojans will have a very difficult time making
themselves available after the reboot.  And you don't need a hard drive
in your computer to run things, just a floppy drive to record settings if
you feel the need to do so.  If you have a hard drive, you have the
entire hard drive to use for file storage, no OS install taking up any
space on the hard drive.

Think about how KNOPPIX has a text-mode display, for use with all those
older systems which have trouble with graphical GUIs.

So whats KNOPPIX good for?

*Rescue CD.  This is true even for Windows.  KNOPPIX boots up anywhere
and has all the necessary tool to read all the major Windows filesystem
types (FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS), as well as your Linux system's
filesystems.  Use the text editors to change what settings you can in
Windows and Linux configuration files to try and save the damaged system.
Use its NFS or SMB tools to copy all the files off the damaged system
onto another system.

*Checking Linux compatibility in newer hardware.  When you are in a
computer store and you don't know if a system runs Linux, and the
salesperson probably doesn't either, pop in a KNOPPIX CD (when the
salesperson isn't looking) and try to reboot in Linux.  If KNOPPIX runs,
Linux will run on that computer.  So keep a KNOPPIX CD handy when you are
shopping for new computers.  And because KNOPPIX doesn't change anything
on the target computer, the salespeople will be unaware that any Linux
testing has occurred.

*Running Linux on a friend's computer.  You're out of town visiting a
friend, you want to use your friend's computer with the security of
Linux, and you have your own national ISP (such as the aforementioned
www.access4free.com).  But your friend is distrustful of Partition Magic
and/or FIPS, and its so much trouble to carry around a set of Debian CDs
just to get your friends interested in using Linux.  So carry a KNOPPIX
CD, reboot his computer without changing a single setting on his Windows
system, and use Linux on your friend's computer.  S/He will be amazed at
the total lack of popups during your Mozilla sessions (and if you've
altered your KNOPPIX CD to include the Hosts file,
http://tinyurl.co.uk/orda, the near total lack of ad banners on
websites).  S/He will be astounded at the ease with which you use
OpenOffice.org to type up documents and spreadsheets.  S/He will break
down and cry when you tell him or her that FrozenBubble is officially
only for Linux and other Unixes.  :)

*CD-Burning computer.  If you have a CDROM drive and a CD-Burner on the
same system, you can boot up KNOPPIX in the CDROM drive and burn CDs in
the CD-Burner.  No more tying up your main system or any other system you
use regularly, just to burn a CD.  In fact, because you're burning CDs on
a completely different system, you can burn them at extremely slow speeds
to reduce your chances of CD errors.  You'll probably want a hard drive
for this system, to store ISOs and files to burn onto CDs, but it doesn't
need to be very big (20GB is probably the most you'd need, though you
could get by with 5GB to 10GB).

*Putting older hardware to work for you.  If you have an older PC with a
CDROM drive, you can load up KNOPPIX (or a custom KNOPPIX) onto that
system with a minimum of fuss and no installation time.

*Putting a PC, which is being slowly built over time, to work right away.
If you're building a new PC piece by piece, you can put off the purchase
of a nice large hard drive and get started on the RAM and processor of
your computer by booting a KNOPPIX CD in the CDROM drive.  KNOPPIX
doesn't need the hard drive, so you can put off the $100+ price of the
nice hard drive and buy something else with the money (such as more RAM
for your new flagship system.

And on the topic of putting old/new hardware to work without a hard
drive:

*Children's computer.  Give them some hard disk space on a server and
teach them how to access it.  Then they can boot KNOPPIX and play games,
browse the Internet, type up their essays and other homework, and you
never have to worry about a single virus or trojan infecting their
computer (even Linux viruses and trojans will be killed by the next
reboot).

*Low-cost school computer lab.  KNOPPIX has all the tools necessary to
link up a network of PCs without hard drives.  Mount a floppy drive
inside the case to maintain session settings (and flick the
write-protection tab on it once you have the settings just the way you
want them) and reboot as needed.  Considering that all the PCs don't need
hard drives, thats either a savings of $90+ per computer, or a collection
of used hard drives (from donated equipment) which can be sold on E-Bay
to raise money for the school.  Believe me, there are still people out
there (Hi There! :) who are looking for smaller IDE hard drives.

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