The key to choosing the best Linux Live CD for any user is understanding how Linux is put together. The Linux landscape is divided into distributions, or distros.
Each distro is built around a Linux core, and packages that extend that to offer the user interface (GUI, or window manager), applications, and drivers for various hardware devices, like wireless (WiFi) adapters.
The seemingly complex structure is no bad thing, because it has enabled Linux distro authors to be very creative with their implementations, giving consumers choice in diversity.
In short – there’s a Linux for everybody, from novices to power users and developers. Through the Live CD system, anyone can give Linux a try.
What is a Live CD?
A Live CD is simply a CD that can be used to start the computer (rather than a hard drive), and runs the operating system (Linux, Windows, etc.) as if it were installed on the hard drive. It's great for tying out a Linux distro as it does not install or even touch the existing OS stored on the hard drive.
Although the term Live CD is used most frequently, actually Live CD builds can also be used to create USB key installations. While there are many distros that offer Live CD capabilities, there are four that offer features that are useful for novices and experienced users alike.
Ubuntu works in most cases without any messing around. The user downloads the live CD, burns it, puts it in the target machine, and starts it up. This has reliably worked in testing for an old HP XE2 laptop, some Dell Optiplex machines, a Dell Latitude C810, and a C840.
The difference between the two variants is the lightweight window manager, Xfce, that replaces the standard GUI available on Ubuntu. This makes it much more suited to less capable systems (i.e. with less than 256MB of memory).
It even worked seamlessly with an old PCMCIA WiFi card, and a USB WiFi adapter.
DamnSmallLinux
If the user just needs something that is capable of surfing the internet, works with a variety of hardware, with a tiny footprint, then DamnSmallLinux is a good option.
DSL fits inside around 50MB, and is fully featured, with a light window manager.
It is also very well supported in the user community, with many tutorials dealing with how to boot it from a USB drive, make it memory resident, and so forth.
Puppy Linux is easy to use and compact. It also has a huge following, and again can be installed to a variety of different portable destinations.
Puppy also offers a very interesting feature – the user can store their session on the CD or USB key used to boot it. This session can then be restored automatically, therefore negating the need to install Puppy to the hard drive at all.
Of course, the CD has to be a RW, and the drive has to support writing to CD for this to work.
NimbleX Custom Live CD
This is the pinnacle of Live CDs for those who really know what they want. Based on the KDE graphical interface, the user can build their own Live CD, adding only the packages that they want; although the core system will still contain:
- KDE & it's K-applications (i.e. Konqueror for web browsing)
- Network support
- Various accessories
However, to this the user can add all kinds of networking, development, and system utilities from an impressive list. The only drawback is the lack of a feature to install to the hard drive. The Custom NimbleX Live CD generator can fairly claim to be the “New Wave of Linux” (as stated on the website), but time will tell if they can carry it through.
In short, for the absolute novice with a recent machine, Ubuntu is the best choice. For those trying to set up a simple internet connection box based on older technology (around 5-8 years old), Puppy Linux or Xubuntu is a good choice. For intermediate users who would also like to do a bit of development, but who want a tight distro, DamnSmallLinux is a safe bet.
For those building systems for roll-out, or who want to be able to build a USB key based release to take with them wherever they go (say, field engineers), NimbleX would be a great starting point.
Guy Lecky-Thompson - Guy W. Lecky-Thompson is the author of several technical and non-technical books, and writer at large. He has written for Dr. Dobbs ...
