Sarasota PC Monitor
Tech Talk (7/06)
Linux Live
by Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D.*
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.The main presentation at the June SPCUG meet ing was originally supposed to be on Linspire, a Linux operating system that some use instead of or in addition to Microsoft Windows. Since this did not occur, I thought I would add my two cents worth of experience on several live versions of Linux, including Linspire. A "Live" version is one that is run directly from a CD and doesn't require any modifications to your hard drive. I have three of them that I have currently been playing with: Suse, Puppy Linux and Linspire. All three were downloaded from their respective web sites in an "ISO" format which then had to be written to a CD in expanded form. I used NTI CD/DVD software to burn the ISO file to a CD. In each case it produced a bootable CD. I have also used CDBurner XP Pro to write ISO files to a CD.
I have written previous articles on various Linux based operating systems (OS) including Linspire when it was stilled called "Lindows". Early versions of Linux operating systems were very command line oriented. Long-time computer users will recall the command-line interface required by the Apple II, CPM and DOS. In my opinion, it was the graphic interface adopted by the Apple Macintosh and later by Microsoft Windows that really promoted the acceptance of the personal computer. If we were still using the command-line interface, the number of home computers would be far smaller than it is today. It is this graphic interface that the Linux operating systems must emulate to increase the acceptance of this OS as a valid competitor to Windows. I know that many Linux enthusiasts will disagree with this. However, I note that the commercial versions of Linux are all working to improve their graphic interface and to simplify their installation. They also are simplifying the installation of new software. All of this is needed to improve their competitive position relative to Windows. So I decided it was time to take another look at some of these versions using the Live CD format. It's one way to see if the software is compatible with your personal computer hardware.
I first tried "Puppy Linux", version 1.05, on my laptop as it is only about 60 MB in size. It is small enough to install to a 256 MB thumb drive. (There is a "FAT Puppy" version which includes a copy of the Linux version of OpenOffice.) I did get Puppy installed and it did run on my laptop. However, it could not find my Internet connection. So it was time for more research. In checking out more detailed information on this version of "Puppy" in the web site's FAQs and discussion Forums, I found that it was specifically written to be used with a dial-up connection. It needed additional files to work with an ethernet connection and would not work with or recognize a wireless connection. Installing additional files as part of the OS requires some knowledge of the terminology of command line Linux. You would also need to burn a new CD after these files were included. In addition, "Puppy" will boot from a thumb drive only if your computer is new enough to allow this option. Otherwise you have to install a Linux bootloader file on a floppy to start the program on boot-up or you can run from the CD. The user discussion forum has instructions for installing files on the C drive that would allow running Puppy from a non-bootable flash or thumb drive. It sets up a dual boot selection. I haven't had the time to test this as yet.
On June 1st, version 2.0 of Puppy Linux was available for download. So I tried this version on my laptop. It installed with no problem, however it still doesn't have wireless capability built-in. I have read the on-line information on how to install the software needed for a wireless network. However, it is written in "Linux language" and the average user would be totally lost. Also it would be useable only if I were running Puppy from something other than a CD.
However, this new version does have a good setup wizard for activating the ethernet connection. So if your computer has an ethernet card it is quite likely that you will be able to make a connection with the Internet using Puppy. I tested the Wizard and it did setup a driver for my ethernet card. Then I was able to click on the DHCP button and it gained an IP address. Only after that could the browser connect to the Internet. The settings were saved so that less effort was required to connect after the next boot. However, it did require that I again get an IP address. It did not do it automatically as would occur with Windows.
Puppy did work with my USB wireless mouse after I went into Setup, selected Mouse & Keyboard and changed the mouse from PS/2 to USB. When I shut down the computer, Puppy asked if it could write setup files to my hard drive to speed up the next boot. I clicked on OK and it wrote a 512 MB file to the FAT 32 partition on my hard drive. It did save time on the next boot as it didn't need to ask any questions about my hardware setup. The ethernet settings were saved but not the USB mouse information. The USB drive information suggests that Puppy would write a smaller file to the thumb drive if 512 MB was not available.
One thing about Puppy that would be very noticeable to a Windows user. When it loads it fills the screen with line after of line of loading information. Most of which is totally unintelligible to the average user. And, the lines pass so rapidly, that most are unreadable. Then in the middle of the process it will stop and you'll only see a blinking cursor at the bottom of the screen under all these other lines of text. That can be very disconcerting to someone not familiar with the system. It does eventually continue and bring up the graphic desktop. There you find all the icons you need to surf the web, change the setup, go to a command line interface, etc. There is also a start button in the lower left hand corner that brings up the application menus. Very similar to the Windows interface and easy to navigate.
When you load Puppy from a bootable CD it installs in a RAM drive. In other words it sets aside a portion of your RAM memory and treats it as if it were a hard drive. If you have more than 128 MB of RAM this works very successfully. On my 512 MB system loading an application was so fast it felt like it was instantaneous. The interesting thing is that Puppy reported that I had 450 MB of free memory. So it actually needs very little RAM for itself.
In the downloaded ISO file that contains Puppy are a number of applications. It includes a word processor and spreadsheet that are MS Office compatible. There are graphics programs, file managers, Internet browser, Internet mail software, a few games and some utilities. Puppy includes the Ical calendar software, an address book, financial management and a password manager. It also has a CD & MP3 music player, as well as a CD/DVD burner. This is only a sampling of the software included with Puppy. All this and it is only 70 MB in its latest version! If Puppy fits your hardware and has the applications you need, it is a delightful and very fast operating system.
Next I tried both the Linspire and Suse 10 versions on my desktop system. Neither of them would load. Again, more research was needed. I had prepared a FAT 32 partition on the hard drive as I knew that neither of them would work with the NTFS file system contained in the main partition. As it turned out, neither of these OS's will work with a SATA hard drive which is what I had installed. Although they were Live versions, they do write temporary files to the hard drive. So on to the next step.
My next attempt was to use Linspire Live on my laptop. (I also intended to try the SUSE version, but it got left behind. Oh well, that can wait for another time.) I booted the laptop from the CD and received a two item menu. The first choice was to run Linspire from the CD. I selected that and the loading proceeded. Granted that running an OS from a CD is not the fastest process in the world, it took several minutes for it to complete the loading. However, it did show a logo and progress bar to let me know it wasn't stalled. In the loading process it identified my USB wireless mouse, my screen settings, the DVD drive, modem, ethernet and wireless cards. The graphic interface would not present any difficulties for anyone that had used Windows. There are icons on the left side for Mail, Internet Browser, etc.
There was one difficulty however. When I tried to connect to the Internet, I received a message that Linspire.com could not be found. So I needed to find out what the problem was. Going to the start menu and opening the Control Panel, I clicked on the network icon. Then in the next window, on the network connections. The right hand panel showed the ethernet board as the primary connection. So I had to select TCP/IP as the default, change the interface board to the wireless board and then click on the wireless tab. After clicking on "Apply", "OK" and closing out the Control Panel I had no trouble connecting to the Internet. I was able to check all my e-mail, do some more research and then closed out of Linspire. The only catch being that I would need to re-do these steps each time I boot the Linspire Live CD. This information could not be saved. Since the whole idea is for the Live version to leave no footprints on your hard drive, all the temporary files are erased as part of the shut-down process. The Linspire CD contains a complete set of the OpenOffice Suite, CD/DVD burner software, web browser, web mail, Instant Messaging, games and many other applications. Admittedly, it does occupy a large segment of a CD; 680 MB to be exact.
Both Puppy Linux and Linspire can be installed to your hard drive once you are certain that you wish to keep them as an alternative to Windows. The Live CD version is certainly worth while from the standpoint that you can determine whether or not a Linux OS will work with your hardware. I suspect both would work well with older computer systems. They don't always have drivers for the newest hardware and that can be a problem. However, new drivers can be readily installed in Linspire if it is installed on a hard drive.
Puppy Linux is free software developed under the Open Software license. There are a group of individuals around the world who work with the original developer to expand the functions of Puppy. Considering its size and its price, it is worth your time to try it out. Go to www.pupplylinux.com to get more information or to download the ISO file.
Linspire has a list price of $49.95 (download) for the complete version. It comes with a lot of applications. If you need more software, you can get an annual subscription to the CNR Warehouse ($19.95) which allows you to download an unlimited number of applications while your subscription is active. Once you have them, you need not make any more payments if you decide to let your subscription lapse. The Linspire Live CD can be downloaded from www.linspire.com/cnr_linspirelive.php. This is a free version of Linspire 5.0.
I have been playing with Linux OS versions for about six years and find them to be improving with time. The commercial versions are certainly much easier for the average viewer to use. If you don't want to pay the price for the commercial version and are willing to do some study, some trial and error effort, then try Puppy. Once it is running, it is many times faster than any other OS I have ever used.
*Dr. Lewis is a former university & medical school professor. He has been working with personal computers for more than thirty years. He can be reached via e-mail at bwsail@yahoo.com.
Copyright 2006. This article is from the July 2006 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,100+ members and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are members of the America Online Ambassador Program.
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