Posted on 07/20/2010 8:24:33 AM PDT by Willie Green
Live CDs, DVDs or USB drives let you run Linux without actually installing it. Here are five reasons why you should.
Computerworld - In the almost 20 years since Linux was first released into the world, free for anyone to use and modify however they like, the operating system has been put to a lot of uses. Today, a vast number of servers run Linux to serve up Web pages and applications, while user-friendly versions of Linux run PCs, netbooks, and even Android and WebOS phones.
One incredibly useful way that Linux has been adapted to the needs of modern computer users is as a "live CD," a version of the operating system that can be booted from a CD (or a DVD or, in some cases, a USB drive) without actually being installed on the computer's hard drive. Given the massive RAM and fast CPUs available on even the lowest-end computers today, along with Linux's generally lower system requirements compared to Windows and Mac OS X, you can run Linux quite comfortably from a CD drive.
Live discs allow you to radically transform the nature of the machine you're working on -- without modifying the installed operating system and software at all. There are a number of reasons you might want to do this. The most obvious is to test a new version or different distribution of Linux before deploying it, saving yourself the surprise of incompatible software or nonfunctional hardware after installation. But even if your business does not plan to deploy Linux as a desktop or server operating system, there are still good reasons to have a live Linux CD or two on hand.
~~~SNIP~~~
Here are five ways to use live Linux in your business, as well as pointers to distributions best suited to each particular task.
(Excerpt) Read more at computerworld.com ...
ping
Thanks Willie. Think I’ll get this and turn my boys loose on an old desktop we can’t boot anymore.
/johnny
And it still has less than 3% market share.
That's certainly not the case with regards to business servers.
Was the article about business servers?
I just used a Linux based LiveCD Antivirus to rid my laptop of a particularly persistent piece of malware. Worked as advertised. Definitely something to keep in ones arsenal.
good post Willie G
Thanks Willie. Think I’ll get this and turn my boys loose on an old desktop we can’t boot anymore.
You're welcome!
There are a seemingly bewildering variety of linux distributions to choose from, but I strongly recommend "Linux Mint" as being extremely user friendly for newbies.
It just so happens that Linux Mint 9 LXDE was just released, Which features a "lighter weight" deskstop and suite of applications that are more suitable for older computers. Of course, KDE, Gnome and a few other varieties of Mint are also available if you prefer. But that's one of the advantages of a Live CD... try each of them first before you install!!!
Good luck!!
No. Nor was it posted as an invitation to Linux-haters to point out some non-important statistic on market-share, starting yet another flame-war between acolytes subscribing to their particular brand of faux-religious adherence to one OS over the others.
It's about stuff we can use Linux to do. Obviously, the article wasn't directed at you. No need to take personal offense to people who actually like to use Linux and communicate with each other.
It's not always about you.
Go away, please.
I don't see the board of directors or shareholders worried about it. Oh, yeah, there are none.
/johnny
I keep a supply of various Linux Live CDs on hand for my work. I use them for everything from cloning hard drives (Clonezilla), recovering data, performing computer forensic examinations (Helix, PlainSight, DEFT), network penetration testing (BackTrack), cleaning up infections, etc. I will also use them if I need to borrow another person’s computer to access my bank account or any other sensitive information.
But then, I am a computer security professional, and have need for a lot of things the average user does not. Still, an Ubuntu live CD is a good tool for even the average user to keep around.
Not precisely true. There are several flavors of Linux that are developed and promoted by corporations (SuSe Linux by Novell, Red Hat, Caldera, Ubuntu by Canonical). While they may not sell the OS, they often sell services related to the product, so the boards of directors would have at least SOME concern over market share...
I tried to create an UBantu Boot CD but couldn’t connect to the internet...
There is a lot more to the story but suffice to say over the years Linux has been very very good to me:)
That's why I'm here to provide a valuable service to people who may consider wasting unrecoverable precious moments of their lives trying to use Linux for their desktop.
I do have some Linux Live Cd's stored away somewhere ready to go if I need them. Just my luck, they probably won't boot up on my new system.
Go away, please.
No
But then, I am a computer security professional, and have need for a lot of things the average user does not. Still, an Ubuntu live CD is a good tool for even the average user to keep around.
Yes, I fully expect computer professionals to be aware of linux' capabilities.
However. I think that many "average users" need to be made aware that they don't have to be a computer professional to have a need for linux. Especially those users with older computers with older versions of Windows that MS has dropped support.
Linux works on those older machines, is easy to use, is UP TO DATE and is FREE!!!
No need to run out and buy a brand new computer system just because MS no longer supports the older ones.
/johnny
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