re: Do all of these things still require the intermediate CD construction?
Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Windows 98 Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by gewg_
(4444 messages posted)
Kiwi wrote:
|My preferred install is from a directory on my hard drive;
|
Linux guys wonder why anyone would waste hard drive space
copying an install CD to his HDD.
It's not like you need it there to reinstall Linux semi-annually.
It's not like you need it there for improved install speed because, again,
you don't need to reinstall Linux constantly;
Linux doesn't have the (stupid) Windoze Registry to get crapped up.
The downside of Linux distros is that EVERYTHING on the CD gets installed.[1]
It is wise, therefore, to select your distro carefully.
The EVERTHING bit is a minor point for most folks, however,
as the package manager makes it simple to get more apps and/or to update apps
(via the Internet), or to remove apps you don't want[2].
|but it doesn't seem that any of your various *nixes want to do it that way.
|They all (right?)
|
See [1].
|mostly want to run from CDs you have to create using the downloads ?
|
I suggested the DeLi Linux distro because of its support for very old hardware
(by virtue of its very old Linux kernel).
It's a shame that that distro is one of the few
that don't allow you to boot the CD to a desktop so you can do a test drive.
There is a very old version of Knoppix (3.1) that is almost as old
and its CD _is_ bootable to a desktop.
...but, yes, the standard way of installing Linux
is to start the installer from the CD, tell it what you want it to do,
and walk away (you don't have to babysit a Linux install).
If your iron is so ancient that its BIOS won't allow it to boot to a CD,
there's SmartBootManager:
cache
of https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SmartBootManager
Do I really need to state that it's Free Software?
...and it's just as useful for folks who only run M$'s junk.
(Parted==Gnome Partition Editor, a Free Software equivalent of Partition Magic.)
[1] There are some miniscule distros that assume you're not a Linux n00b
and that you want to make a highly customized box.
They start with a bare-minimum install via the CD
and you get the rest of what you want online.
U-Lite* (formerly called UbuntuLite) and Tiny Core Linux* are exemplars.
There is also an Ubuntu Alternate Install CD*
that allows you to pick and choose which apps you want to install.
It is quite useful for low-horsepower boxes.
The Alternate Install CD is bootable but _does not_ boot to a graphical desktop.
* NOTE: These use recent kernels and may not work on your very old hardware.
[2] ...and, unlike Windoze, when Linux uninstalls something,
it uninstalls ALL of it--it doesn't leave that app's turds all over the place.
|
All messages in this thread [show all]
 |  | | | | | | | | | |  | re: Do all of these things still require the intermediate CD construction? (gewg_: Sun, Oct 18, 2009, 9:44 pm) |
| |
| |
| |
Return to the Windows 98 Discussion Forum
|
|
