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Books Media Operating Systems Software Book Reviews Linux

Knoppix Hacks 190

Posted by timothy from the props-to-klaus dept.
norburym writes "The publishers' blurb on the back cover describes Knoppix as 'a veritable Swiss Army knife in CD form.' Knoppix Hacks by Kyle Rankin is no less astounding in revealing the hidden versatility and power inherent in this unassuming tool." Read on for the rest of Norbury-Glaser's review.
Knoppix Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools (with CD)
author Kyle Rankin
pages 336
publisher O'Reilly
rating 10
reviewer Mary Norbury-Glaser
ISBN 0596007876
summary Knoppix Hacks

Most Linux users will recognize Knoppix even if they've never given it a whirl, but this book goes beyond the simple "how to create and boot from a Knoppix Linux Live CD." Rankin displays the raw power that lies beneath the surface of simply running a clean distro of GNU/Linux free from fear of installation issues. Proper Knoppix books are lacking in the wild, with mere chapters in general Linux volumes mostly dedicated to larger issues for both the novice and the intermediate user. One or two Knoppix books are out there (and one by Samuel Hart, Knoppix Komplete, is in press) but what sets Knoppix Hacks apart is not that it is one of the few available on the subject, but rather Rankin's skill in exposing the underutilized potential in the Knoppix tool set.

This book begins with a forward by Klaus Knopper, creator of Knoppix. It's always entertaining and enlightening to read a first-hand account of some clever soul's chance involvement with an "experiment" that turned out wildly successful and this is no exception. The "Knoppix Story" is engaging and leaves the reader with a sense of awe at the ingenuity of this dedicated and resourceful individual.

Rankin has collected a "who's who" of Linux hackers to contribute to this book: John Andrews, creator of Damn Small Linux; Fabian Franz, creator of FreeNX server; Alex de Landgraaf, creator of Morphix; Simon Peter, developer of klik; Wim Vandersmissen, creator of ClusterKnoppix and many others no less accomplished, all of whom have contributed to the future of free software/open source development.

As is expected with the O'Reilly Hacks series of books, the chapters are structured with clean typographical conventions identifying URLs, directory/folder/file names, code examples and excerpts, sample text delineation and cross-references. Tips and warnings are clearly identified with pushpin and screw graphics, respectively, and indented. There are a helpful number of tips without getting too overwhelming or annoying by breaking the flow of the text. The thermometer icons next to each hack indicate the level of expertise required: beginner, intermediate and expert. Screenshots are placed where needed but again, the reader isn't left distracted by unnecessary filler.

The nine chapters cover hacks ranging from beginner to expert: "Boot Knoppix," "Use your Knoppix Desktop," "Tweak Your Desktop," "Install Linux with Knoppix," "Put Knoppix in Your Toolbox," "Repair Linux," "Rescue Windows," "Knoppix Reloaded" and "Knoppix Remastered." The book includes a CD with v.3.4 of Knoppix (3.6 having just been released; the author wisely chooses to stay with the tried, true and debugged version).

The first two chapters are pitched to beginners, with Chapter 1, "Boot Knoppix," leaping directly into downloading Knoppix and creating a bootable CD. It then covers "cheat codes" - options passed at the boot: prompt to work around hardware detection and support failures. Tweaking X settings, desktop and laptop scenarios, language settings and optimizing the Knoppix CD are also included here. Chapter 2 introduces details of the KDE desktop and encourages the reader to become familiar with the Knoppix desktop, the applications included and connecting to the Internet (even via GPRS over Bluetooth!).

Chapter 3 concentrates on saving settings and documents, using Knoppix as a kiosk or terminal server to boot multiple computers over a network from the same Knoppix CD, and how to use the live installer feature to add extra packages directly to ramdisk.

Chapter 4 covers the inevitable situation when you will find yourself using Knoppix so often that you decide to install it onto your hard drive. Rankin includes single and dual boot system installs.

Chapter 5, "Put Knoppix in Your Toolbox," is where admins should head. The full list of 15 indispensable hacks in this chapter include running remote desktops via rdesktop or xvncviewer, running X remotely with FreeNX, browse Windows shares, create an emergency router, emergency file or web server, wardriving with Knoppix (including how to capture GPS coordinates along with data), audit network security, check for root kits, collect forensics data, clone hard drives, wipe hard drives, test hardware compatibility, and copy settings to other distributions.

"Repair Linux" (Chapter 6) is for those of us who spend a lot of time "breaking" things in the course of experimenting and need to recover the system. Rankin shows hacks for repairing both lilo and grub, how to: back up and restore the MBR, find lost partitions, resize linux partitions, repair damaged file systems, recover deleted files, rescue files from damaged hard drives, backup and restore, migrate to a new hard drive, create Linux software RAID, reset Linux passwords, repair Debian and RPM packages, and copy a working kernel. We will always break something along the way and these hacks help minimize the frustration.

Chapter 7, "Rescue Windows"...well, need I say more? Put these hacks into practice and you'll probably be using them every day. Use Knoppix to: fix the Windows boot selector, backup files and settings, write to NTFS, resize Windows partitions, reset lost NT passwords, edit the Windows registry, restore corrupted system files, scan for viruses and download Windows patches securely. A must for any systems administrators with Windows machines lurking everywhere.

Knoppix Reloaded, in Chapter 8, takes on Knoppix variants Morphix, Gnoppix, Mediainlinux, Freeduc, Damn, Small Linux, INSERT, L.A.S. Linux, Knoppix-STD, distccKnoppix, ClusterKnoppix, Quantian, GIS Knoppix and KnoppMyth. There is also a well-deserved pitch at the conclusion of this chapter to become a Knoppix developer and contribute to the ongoing work.

The final chapter includes seven hacks that help the reader create their own customized Knoppix CD. Knoppix Remastered walks the reader through the steps of customizing and personalizing a live CD.

This is one of the liveliest technical books I've read in a long time. A few of the easier hacks can be found on Knoppix.net or elsewhere but I think Rankin has managed to put the majority of Knoppix related material in one book that could be subtitled the "First Knoppix Manual." The admin hacks, in particular, will add a whole new arsenal of Knoppix wonders to an admin's repertoire. Kudos to O'Reilly for publishing such an outstanding volume, to Rankin for compiling some damn useful material, and to MacGyver for inspiring many of us to look for simple solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems.

You can purchase Knoppix Hacks from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
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Knoppix Hacks

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  • so true (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @01:44PM (#10844468)
    as a camp counselor I used knoppix to save a child's movie files off a camp computer where windows had incorrectly written the boot sector.

  • For Dummies (Score:3, Funny)

    by MikeMacK ( 788889 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @01:44PM (#10844475)
    At least he didn't call it "Knoppix For Dummies".

  • Chapter 1337 (Score:4, Funny)

    by dirtmerchant ( 162306 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @01:47PM (#10844513) Homepage
    And of course, chapter 1337 covers downloading a pdf copy of this book using purely open-source solutions.

  • Sounds comprehensive (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mogrify ( 828588 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @01:47PM (#10844518) Homepage
    I've used Knoppix a few times to rescue hapless Windows installations -- seems like every time I look for some needed utility, I find it somewhere in Knoppix. I'm sure it can do things I've never thought of, so it's nice to see a user manual of sorts for what's become an indispensible tool in the ol' repair kit. Put this on my Christmas list.
    • Definitly agree as to the usefulness of Knoppix. It is one of those tools that you don't realize how useful it really is untill nothing else seems to work, but by booting Knoppix you can usually find the problem and hopefully fix it. Nice to see a book that helps people use this tool to it's full potential.

    • Re:Sounds comprehensive (Score:3, Interesting)

      by CedgeS ( 159076 )
      I made this guide [shockfamily.net], which is sadly in need of an update*. One of the most frequent email questions I get is, "Help - I lost my partition table, how do I get it back"? There's a great utility included in knoppix called gpart [uni-hannover.de] that searches the hard drive for partitions and constructs a new partition table. It also makes backups of master boot records. Its amazing all of the stuff they've thought to include.

      * If anyone wants to mail me a copy of the newest knoppix cd I'll update it. I hate downloading ISO

  • Knoppix is really powerful tool. I use it often (or its Czech clone called Danix) but recently it saved me really. After my computer broke down not being able to boot from HD i use Knoppix for my everyday work. If it was not here, I would be in deep trouble, because I cannot afford a new computer now. Thanx for Knoppix!!
    • its Czech clone called Danix

      Wait - its Czech clone is called Danix? So the Hungarian clone is called Norwix and the Bulgarian one Swedix? What's the pattern (for those of us not living in Eastern Europe)?

      • Danix (Score:2, Informative)

        by alarch ( 830794 )
        LOL :)) You made me laugh. Danix stand for DANIels's linuX i believe, which is name of the main developer. Similar case as with Knoppix itself. BTW: I do not live in the eastern Europe. I live in central Europe. You woudlnt say that Austria or Germany is in eastern Europe, would you?
        • Depends. Do you know where, say, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon or Wisconsin are in relation to the rest of the US? East, west, central? Many Europeans are just as ignorant on our political geography as Americans are on theirs ;)
          • Europe is not analogous to the US.

            There is a far greater difference between Hungary and the Czech republic than there is between Oregon and Wisconsin. Yes, there are many countries in Europe. That's not an excuse not to know them though.
        • I live in central Europe. You woudlnt say that Austria or Germany is in eastern Europe, would you?

          No, but we think of the Czech Republic as an eastern bloc country (i.e., formerly of the USSR). It's not so much geographic as it is political/historical/socioeconomic.
        • I see. As magefile has pointed out most non-Europeans think of your country as Eastern Europe for historical reasons, not exactly where you are on the map. I imagine the next couple of generations who don't remember the Berlin Wall or the Cold War will start referring to it as central rather than Eastern.
  • A hack... a "worn-out horse for hire". "harsh coughing", a "rough, irregular cut". a "quick job that produces what is needed, but not well".

    These books might not be all about hacking... But the title might make the reader feel special about themselves.

    Are these hack books trying to Capitalize on 'leet-ness, or are they simply the antipathy of the "for dummies" series?

    Is self inflation and self deprecation really such a critical component to technical literature sales?
    • It's all in perception. But you're right. It's much better for "hacking" to be thought of as the computer equivelant of armed robbery instead.
      Face it: What we used to think the word "hacking" meant has long been depracated by the world at large. At least a series like this might bring the meaning of the word a bit away from the dark side. Maybe.

    • Re:Duality of l337ness versus Stupidity (Score:5, Interesting)

      by NardofDoom ( 821951 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:47PM (#10845166)
      Those aren't the only definitions. [google.com]

      A hack can also mean a way of using something in a clever way, including the way it was intended. Using Knoppix to repair a Windows machine is a hack, because it uses the tool to solve the problem in a clever way.

      Kinda like using duct tape to 'resize' a metric socket to fit on a standard nut.

      It's not about 'leetness,' it's about solving the problem, and then communicating that solution to others.

    • "quick job that produces what is needed, but not well".

      Often this is exactly what you want - also known as something done once to get the job done but not something you do daily. The correct way to recover from a dying disk is to restore from a daily backup and redo the rest of the days work, but the hack of using knoppix will usually give better results.

      I think the intended audience is after quick and nasty solutions, I know I am. You can also build on such ideas to produce something that isn't so quick


    • you have the wrong definition of hacking

      In English gentry, "hacking about" is the term for riding one's horse about with no particular intent. There's even a "hacking jacket" which is a particular tweed, distinct from hunting pinks, that one wears when "going hacking".

      I suspect that it is this definition of hacking from where the computer related term derives.

  • Amazon link [amazon.com]

  • BioKnoppix & VLinux (Score:5, Interesting)

    by FiReaNGeL ( 312636 ) <.moc.liamtoh. .ta. .l3gnaerif.> on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:04PM (#10844700) Homepage
    BioKnoppix and VLinux are indispensable toolboxes for every bioinformatician out there, especially if you do lots of consulting (or need to travel from lab to lab, without having a laptop). Both distributions contains tools for sequence and protein analysis, 3D structure viewing software... etc. Very handy...
  • the reader isn't left distracted by unnecessary filler."

    Excessive screenshots has been one of the main reasons I stay away from the 'hacks' books, so this is good news.

    It will be worth a sawbuck if it and a knoppix CD get my 'Windows Flumoxed'(TM) brother interested enough in Linux to ditch the Mr. Softy OS product.

  • Great introduction to Linux (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MysticalMatt517 ( 772389 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:06PM (#10844715) Homepage
    This sounds like an interesting book, I may have to pick it up next time I'm at BN.

    I think one of the most fantastic things about Knoppix is that it provides a safe gateway for people to get into the Linux world, especially young people. At some point (around 8th grade) they realize there's more to life than Windows, but don't know enough to create a dual boot system. Knoppix is a great way for them to get their feet wet.

    It's nice to see a book out on this. Regardless of whether these are truly "hacks" or not is irrelevant. The information it brings forward is interesting.
    • It's currently on sale for $16.95 (plus S&H) at bookpool.com [bookpool.com]. But I think I got their last in-stock copy just yesterday. Can't wait for it to show up next week.

      And yeah, ditto to everything else you said. A friend of mine was complaining that "every time he goes on the internet, my computer slows waaaayyyy down...". I told him, "Dude, you are 0wn3d", gave him a Knoppix CD and told him to unplug his DSL modem when he boots into Windows. He's happily back to full speed surfing and I didn't have to go cle
    • And this is why Knoppix should be illegal, because it's a gateway distributions to more dangerous distributions...

  • New Knoppix user sings praises (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I just started experimenting with Knoppix recently. It was extremely cool to boot into a full KDE desktop with only 128M of memory and no hard disk support. I could even launch Open Office and Mozilla, but not at the same time. Extremely refreshing to realize that I do not have to have a system with 1G of memory and a 400G hard drive to get a very useable machine.

    It also came in handy for offloading files from an unbootable Windows 2000 machine to another machine. This can easily be done even if you know n

  • Regarding the Swiss Army Knife metaphor (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mogrify ( 828588 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:09PM (#10844750) Homepage
    that everyone is happily using, how about we just buy the USB-key-equipped Swiss Army Knife and boot Feather with it? Now I can open the PC case with my Linux distro -- hmmm, no more metaphor.

  • IRL, Kyle is the person who got me to start using linux! :-)

    Thanks kyle, I've never looked back.

    -Donnie

  • Morphix (Score:2, Informative)

    by quamaretto ( 666270 )
    I'm a big fan of Morphix. I've used Morphix Lightgui (Comes with XFCE) and GNUStep [linuks.mine.nu] (The distro) at various times and I think the project is headed good places. But then, I haven't used the original Knoppix in quite awhile. I should pick it up again.

  • Knoppix on a HD? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by siliconjunkie ( 413706 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:20PM (#10844843)
    Hopefully this is on topic enough:

    Ever since I saw the Mandrake Globetrotter [slashdot.org] I have been really wanting to roll my own "portable linux virtual machine". I don't want to pay for the overpirced Globetrotter, so I bought a 200GB drive with an external Firewire/USB2.0 enclosure.

    Now, I have found some excellent resources on installing Linux on an external firewire drive [ibm.com], but the thing is, this (and other articles) are written with the idea that the end result will be used on one system, my goal is to have something like the Globetrotter which is a FULL distro of Mandrake 10, with the awesome hardware detection of Knoppix at boot time (so it can used it on multiple machines with no problem, like a Knoppix disc).

    My question is, how would one go about doing this? I have considered just using the Knoppix "install to hard drive" feature, but I would rather have a more robust fully featured distro from the get go. Mandrake does not make it clear on their site if Mandrake 10 has the inherant ability to detect hardware at bootime like the version that comes on the Globetrotter does...any ideas?

    • Re:Knoppix on a HD? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @04:05PM (#10846118)
      The review doesn't mention this, but I hope the book distinguishes between the (at least) two modes of installing Knoppix, which, since I can't recall the official terms, I'll call Knoppix Mode and Debian Mode.

      Installing in Debian Mode is basically using Knoppix to detect the hardware and then copying a fully installed Debian, configured *for your particular hardware* onto the hard drive. When you subsequently boot from the hard drive, it just boots up a normal debian that has been configured for your hardware, exactly as if you'd installed Debian and manually configured all hardware.

      Installing in Knoppix Mode includes the Knoppix hardware auto-detect stuff in the boot sequence if the installed hard drive. This means it goes through hardware auto-detection every time you boot. The downside is it might take longer to boot. The upside is you can painlessly change hardware, or even connect the hard drive to a completely different computer, and the system will boot perfectly.

      I find Knoppix Mode to be fascinating, and if all the kinks are worked out it could be great for hard drive resellers to throw a copy on the hard drive.

      Anyone have links to more information about these to modes and their pros and cons?
    • I had aproblem with a laptop and Lilo and Knoppix saved me a LOT of work. The same process could work for this external drive. Boot off of the Knoppix cdrom, mount your external drive partitions, and use the chroot command. The following is what I posted in response to the person who suggested this online for MY problem. "I booted from a knoppix CD in failsafe after hitting F2 for HELP, and did the following. ctl- alt F2 (to pull up the root terminal) mount -t ext3 /dev/hda3 /mnt/hda3 chroot /mnt/hda3 (m

  • Koppix saved my ass (Score:3, Interesting)

    by goodrob ( 204257 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:25PM (#10844887)

    I once lost all data on my D:\ 80 GB drive when i reformatted my C:\ due to a virus..

    I tried so many utilities to rescue it.. Norton, partition magic and a bunch of others i had never heard of and never looked at again..

    nothing worked..

    finally i booted to knoppix and changed the flag of the partition to what it was supposed to be and presto! i had everything back again!

    i love knoppix!

  • Knoppix is easy entry linux (Score:5, Interesting)

    by landimal_adurotune ( 824425 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:27PM (#10844903) Homepage
    I work at an all girl private college, and we put in a Perfigo box. Many of the students had a tough time getting windows patches and spyware was wreaking havok.

    So I modified the startup html of Knoppix to tell them how to get GAIM going and do internet browsing. Tons of these girls are happy linux users, and have gone on to 'the hard stuff' like gentoo.

    The disk is indespensible as a system rescue as well.

    • Re:Knoppix is easy entry linux (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I think most of the crowd here just turned green with envy. And it had nothing to do with your ability to modify HTML.

    • Re:Knoppix is easy entry linux (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      if you stopped at "all girls", i'd probably buy it.

      "all girls" + "Private college" sounds a little fishy ...

      "all girls" + "private college" + "using linux" = a typical /. poster, still living at home & daydreaming with his keyboard.

      • Re:Knoppix is easy entry linux (Score:4, Interesting)

        by j1bb3rj4bb3r ( 808677 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @03:20PM (#10845537)
        I think I should also add that an all girls private college is not what it's cracked up to be. I've never felt like such a complete outsider before in my life. My ex-gf and her friends were great to me, but any parties I went to, I was often the only guy. While that may sound like heaven to those social rejects who've never spent much time with girls in the first place, it's actually a very uncomfortable feeling, because you really just don't fit in, don't belong, and are pretty much just tolerated (and that's by the straight girls). Don't get me wrong... I met lots of very cool people there, it's just the social environment of an all-one-gender place is very different than coed environments.
        • Nah, you just want to keep them all to yourself, admit it.
        • I think I should also add that an all girls private college is not what it's cracked up to be.

          I went to St.Andrews University, which had a number of single-sex halls of residence. One of them was all-female, but was thinking about becoming mixed. In my first year, I think there were two males there and about a hundred and fifty females.

          From all accounts, the guys had a hellish time, for all the reasons you describe.

          Any single-sex environment tends to go rather weird. You can explain a lot about upper

  • Finally, all those work PC's... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RobertB-DC ( 622190 ) * on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:30PM (#10844939) Homepage Journal
    The final chapter includes seven hacks that help the reader create their own customized Knoppix CD. Knoppix Remastered walks the reader through the steps of customizing and personalizing a live CD.

    Aha! Finally, I'll be able to create a bootable BZFlag CD-ROM [bzflag.org], and I won't have to ask permission before bringing my friends to the office on the weekend for a fragging session. Power goes out here regularly, so as long as everyone has to power up in the morning, nobody will be the wiser. Heh.

    Now, where's that "Post Anonymously" check bo

  • I should make a distro (Score:4, Funny)

    by falconed ( 645790 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:36PM (#10845032)
    Linus made Linux,
    Knopper made Knoppix,
    Falcone should make Fallix!
  • Knoppix-STD is only ~460 mb, which leaves 240 mb you can use to your advantage. Put some "normal" files in there - I use a set of mp3s and play them on my mp3 cd player, alternatively some "work"-type files or a set of ebooks. Then create the iso with mkisofs -r -J -hide-joliet KNOPPIX (and -hide-joliet index.html etc. if you leave those files in there) Now you have a bootable cd full of security tools which, when viewed on a windows pc, looks completely innocuous.

  • Where have I heard that name before? (Score:5, Funny)

    by crawdaddy ( 344241 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:38PM (#10845069)
    Rankin has collected a "who's who" of Linux hackers to contribute to this book: John Andrews, creator of Damn Small Linux; Fabian Franz, creator of FreeNX server; Alex de Landgraaf, creator of Morphix; Simon Peter, developer of klik; Wim Vandersmissen, creator of ClusterKnoppix and many others no less accomplished, all of whom have contributed to the future of free software/open source development.

    I emailed Simon Peter for information about klik, but he denied involvement with it. I pointed to this review in a followup email as evidence. Again, he denied it in his reply. Upon my pointing to him being listed on the klik site, he replied "I don't know this klik you're talking about," denying his involvement a third time. Then a rooster crowed twice.

  • My best use of Knoppix (Score:3, Interesting)

    by LarsWestergren ( 9033 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @02:52PM (#10845238) Homepage Journal
    When I worked as a sysadmin, I used Knoppix several times to errorcheck Windows computers. At home, I have used it to run Linux from Scratch [linuxfromscratch.org] on a clean computer. It's great to have all tools available and no fear of removing or messing up an important partition by mistake. Also you can surf and play games while compiling.

  • Ultimate Boot CD (Score:3, Informative)

    by scubacuda ( 411898 ) <scubacuda&gmail,com> on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @03:03PM (#10845357)
    Many of these tools are on Knoppix, but useful nonetheless: Ultimate Boot CD [ultimatebootcd.com]

  • I'd like to see an article where someone takes popular "Windows fix it tools for admins" (like this one [winternals.com]) and write an easy-to-undertand tutorial for newbies.

    Until then, these hacks will only be available to the uber geeks (not that that's a always a bad thing).

    • Yes, agree. But one big difference. With MS windows, everything is hidden, and when you do 'real shit' to hack a fix, you haven't the slightest clue if the box ever comes back up... and if it don't, they you get deeper in the mire. Plus logs will be totally meaningless anyway.

      You DID back up the registry, didn't you?
    • Until then, these hacks will only be available to the uber geeks
      Incorrect. Relative who has never used any breed of *nix + laptop + knoppix and he could get wireless networking going and order a new hard drive online. The configuration options are not hard to find in the GUI.

  • MetroPipe: Knoppix for flash drives (Score:5, Interesting)

    by lucidvein ( 18628 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @03:17PM (#10845501) Homepage
    I just downloaded http://www.metropipe.net/ProductsPVPM.shtml [metropipe.net] which uncompresses to an executable Knoppix environment. Runs on top of Windows or Linux so no need to even reboot the client machine.

    Could use some updating now that Firefox 1.0 is out, but overall I found it to be a very compact and usable resource. Look forward to the release that supports Mac OS X.
    • Holy crap thats an awesome app. I Love it. Thanks, its links like this that make surfing /. for hours worth it.
    • Awesome link.

      I was just looking into grabbing knoppix, and look at this even better.

      I recently got a Victornox USB knife, (got it for like 15 dollars, so no comments about overpriced stuff), and loaded it up, works awesome.

      Now i'll get it all setup for when I go to Europe next week, the internet cafe's can all be the same.

      Props for the link!
  • When I first downloaded Knoppix and ran it, it was a really "WOW" moment. Perhaps one of the first best things to come out to promote Linux ever - I hand out Knoppix disc's all the time at work, even though the users haven't a clue ("Will it fuck my memory up?". "I have a windows monitor, will that work?" et al ad naseum).

  • RDesktop Knoppix? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by grolschie ( 610666 ) on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @11:54PM (#10850544)
    I'd love to see a Knoppix variant that will simply do the following:
    1). Grab an IP address via DHCP
    2). Configure hardware
    3). StartX
    4). Prompt for Server name
    5). Start RDesktop

    Nothing else. I am amazed it hasn't been done yet. The ultimate thin client boot CD.
  • Well,
    Since I've had to repair a couple of BSOD-prone Windowz boxes already with the help of Knoppix, I think this book can form a nice introduction to those same people who think Linux is just some sort of hacker software or who think that Windowz is the only OS on the planet!

    But, looking at it from a different perspective, I do see that when it comes to using Knoppix as a general introduction to Linux, it won't work!!!
    Most people will see Knoppix as a good way to see what Linux is all about, but they only
  • Kudos to Kyle for all his hard work!

    For anyone interested, I had licensed my contributions under the GNU FPL; check them out (unedited) here [alextreme.org].

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