Puppy Linux Lets You Run From, Save To The Same CD

qewl writes "Now there's a live CD that can actually save data back onto its own disk! How does it work? The PC boots with a multi-session CD inserted in the CD-burner drive -- thus, Puppy Linux automatically knows which drive is the CD-burner, in case you have more than one CD/DVD drive. Then you use Puppy in the normal way. At shutdown, all the changed files in your home directory are saved back to CD. That's it. Next time you boot, all the personal files are restored!"

Re:USB Key?

[Chrontius]

Not everything will boot from USB.

Re:DVD? RW? Read the FAQ!

[splante]

Read the FAQ [goosee.com]

Why should I use a CD-R, why not a CD-RW or DVD disk?

I do not recommend a CD-RW simply because it isn't necessary. A CD-R is "write-once", but in multi-session mode, tracks can be written one after the other, up to 99 tracks or the CD becomes full. You could use a DVD-R, however I would discourage you. Puppy has a mechanism for keeping track of deleted files, and this may become unwieldy if a very large number of deleted files have to be kept track of. This mechanism works on a per-CD or per-DVD basis, and is going to be more manageable with the smaller number of files on the CD. Also, it could take years before you fill-up a DVD, and in the meantime, unless you leave it permanently in the drive, there is the increased risk of it being scratched. Note however, this is tentative advice -- it may turn out in practice that a DVD-R is a good way to go.

Re:I may be a bit out of date on cd-rs

[imsabbel]

I just googled around and it seems the overhead is 18MB.

Re:I can see it coming...

[Pantheraleo2k3]

RTFA. Everything runs out of ramdisk. So, when you shutdown, your data gets burnt. Since it uses a ramdisk, you can remove the CD while the system is running. If you don't insert the CD at shutdown when it asks, your changes won't be saved. Simple as that.

Re:Good for data recovery and such

[rj4x]

I've booted up on a knoppix cd more than once with the idea of writing files to a cd using knoppix. Though I suppose it would work just as well to boot into something that can load itself completely into memory, and free up the drive.

I use knoppix-std (security tools distro) from time to time. there is a "tomem" cheat code available at bootup for loading the image into memory - provided you have enough. As you would expect, things run faster.
I can't say for sure but I presume the cdrom is free after knoppix is up and running.

Re:Internet Cafes

[saitoh]

While not entirely unrecomendable, there is the problem that people who go into inet cafes generally only know about Windows and how to use Windows and part of your business model is having a place where people can come and "easily" use the systems, even to the point of it being painfully easy and intuitive. This can be argued endlessly, but if your ever doing something like this, its something to consider.

As for the solution for windows users to prevent the altering of a configuration:
www.symantec.com/goback/

My university uses it to lock down the general student labs. In 3 years, I've seen it work well.

Torrent

[gamepro]

I know I know, TF is infamous for the curropt LG3D file. Sorry about that, it was an accident. Heres a torrent for the puppy-1.0.0alpha-firefox-multisession.iso it's tested and works, pretty cool too. You have to be a member to DL the .torrent file, but we don't care who acesses the tracker. If someone wants to mirror the .torrent they are more the welcome to. heres the link for members http://www.titaniumforums.com/torrent/software/ind ex.php [titaniumforums.com]

Re:I may be a bit out of date on cd-rs

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually its 28 mb for inital sessions, and 13mb for following sessions. http://www.mscience.com/faq67.html

Puppy Linux runs on USB, Compact Flash, . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

According to the web site, Puppy Linux was originally developed to run off a Compact Flash reader, and will also run off a 128mb USB key (with the capability to keep files on the key).

Re:USB Key?

[docflan]

Wouldn't using a flash USB key make a lot more sense? Or am I missing something here?
Yes.
In spite of all the posters saying nothing will boot from USB, it is in fact quite common on even low cost motherboards these days.

Re:DVD? RW?

[BlastM]

Of course, the CD is going to fill up eventually, so what then? No problem, at shutdown Puppy will automatically ask you to insert a new blank CD and will place a fully working bootable Puppy on it, create a first data track, and off you go again.

So yes, it burns a new one, once you need it.

Re:improvements to the LiveCD model

[m50d]

There are a couple of distros that do that already, for example MEPIS.

Re:Good for data recovery and such

[Quino]

Puppy linux does load completely into RAM, freeing up your burner, btw.

It only asks for the CD that it booted from during shutdown to burn the changes.

I've been running it for kicks for the last couple of hours, and I'm very impressed! It's of course minimalist, but very functional (with Gxine and Firefox installed, I'm even streaming music).

If you're going to give it a try, keep in mind that, for me, it ran significantly better after the first reboot (and burn of session). Not sure why that would be ....