Questions on running wget

[NuxIT]

Hi, I was reading an anticle on here stating that the main reason that people don't do a HDD load of knoppix is because of the mix and match of the packages (Sarge & Something else) causes problems/conflicts when updating software. Well, I'm not familiar with wget and haven't ran any package updates but was wondering since I choosed the Debain Load when I did the HDD install wouldn't that mean I don't have the Mix & match of the packages? Thanks for any tips. I really love knoppix and want to stick with it.

[Harry Kuhman]

Knoppix is made of the mix, so yes doing a Debian install will get you the mix. About the only way to not be bothered by it would be to do the "poor man's install". You still have the mix, but since you can't install anything else you don't really have a problem from that. But your original statement of the problem is not completely correct. To say that the main reason for not installing Knoppix is the mix and match problem ignores all of the problems of things that work fine from the CD but often stop working after a hard disk install, like networking.

Have you ever tried an install of Debian Etch? I'm hard pressed to find any reason to install Knoppix rather than Debian, and can give a number of reasons why Debian is a better choice. If you have a good reason for fighting with a Knoppix install over Debian that would be interesting, but most of the people who ask about Knoppix installs have never even tried to install Debian. That strikes me as, well, lets be kind and say "foolish".

[NuxIT]

Well Harry the reason I did the Knoppix HDD install was because I only had 2.5 gigs of space to work with and when I went to look for Debian disk it was like at the VERY least 6 ISO's images!! That was very daunting and I didn't think I would be able to install that onto a 2.5gig partition so I opted to do Knoppix. I still like Knoppix but might get off it eventually. The main reason I love Knoppix is because it PACKS EVERYTHING onto one nice CD. I have nearly every utility under the linux sun on this distro all fitting well under my 2.5gig threshold.

[Harry Kuhman]

Well Harry the reason I did the Knoppix HDD install was because I only had 2.5 gigs of space to work with and when I went to look for Debian disk it was like at the VERY least 6 ISO's images!!
You completely misunderstand what you were looking at. Yes, you can download 14 full CD's of "Debian", but you would likely find that you never installed anything from any but the first CD and maybe the second one. But even better you can download about 100 megs of Debian and do a "net" install (actually you can do this with a much smaller download as well). What makes up most of those 6 CDs or as many as 14 CDs is all of the different "packages" that are available under Debian. Some are included with Knoppix, and when you install Knoppix you get them, you don't pick what you want and what you don't. And installing KNoppix, in addition to the other issues, will install all of the packages included with the Knoppix CD (the Knoppix DVD is much too large for you) and take up most of that very limited disk pace that you have.

Instead you can Install Debian. You could do it with the 650 meg CD#1, but I strongly suggest installing from the Etch Net Install CD (http://www.debian.org/releases/testing/) as long as you have a high speed Internet connection. Then you can install any of the applications that are included with Knoppix that you want, but you don't have to install applications that you don't want and will never use. And with Debian, apt-get actually works and is easy to use (with Knoppix it can break the install). You might even choose to use a smaller GUI than KDE and save some more space, although clearly you can have KDE if you want it. Because Debian lets you include just the software that you want and not the mix and match a little bit of everything sampler that is Knoppix you will have more space available on your disk for storing data or adding any additional software packages.

The 6 CDs could be handy if you want to install Debian where you don't have Internet access. You would have access to a lot of additional applications that way. But for the average user with high speed access any CD beyond the first one is a waste.

[NuxIT]

Great! Thanks a lot for that explaination. I think I'll probably try and do the Debian install some time next week and report back. Why are you hanging out on the Knoppix forums? Just trying to help out people or do you like using it sometimes?

[Harry Kuhman]

Why are you hanging out on the Knoppix forums?
I'm still just learning a lot about Linux, mostly Debian and Knoppix. Actually most of what I do with Linux I can do with Knoppix just fine as a Live CD as the way it is intended. So I learn a bit and help out when I can.

Besides, these forums should not be inhabited just by the people who think installing Knoppix is a good idea, with those of us who know better moving on. To much misinformation gets passed along that way already.

[Cuddles]

NuxIT,

Many of "us" have, or "tried" what you have done. I moved from the LiveCD of Knoppix, to also, HDD installing Knoppix, three versions to be precise... I had the Dist-Upgrade problem on two accounts, and even, the Upgrade issue. Knoppix is "intended", and "geared", toward being a LiveCD. Whereas, other Distro's, have been geared toward HDD Installing "only". A few Distro's, have taken the best of "both" worlds, and combined the LiveCD of Knoppix, with the HDD Install Only of other Distro's. Take for example, not to toot my horn here, Kanotix... Kanotix is based off of Knoppix. It is a great LiveCD, but, was "intended" for HDD Install. It "acts" like Knoppix when running off the CD, but, after HDD Installing it, it becomes a "true blue" Debian SID Install.

Many of Kanotix runners, are, in essence, former Knoppix runners, or, as Harry stated, have moved to strict Debian installs.

As for me, hanging out, here... I will never know "everything", I still am learning every day, and this keeps me in touch with whats going on, problems, issues, and, yes, helping people who I can help, if I can :D

Ms. Cuddles
-=- Come to the Dark Side - We have penguins! -=-

[NuxIT]

Thanks Harry and Cuddles.. It's is now time for me to move onto either Kanotix or a Debian load that is as feature rich as Knoppix and can fit on my 2.5 gig partition. Knoppix really grew on me for the last few months and I thought it was incredible after using most of it's awesome utilities. However, as you mentioned when it came time to update..... Well, lets just say I ran apt-get & upgrade last night while ssh'd into my laptop from work. After the package updates ran (170megs worth) all seemed good until I got home and rebooted. Well, I was alway irriatated with how long it took Knoppix to load (much longer then booting off the actual CD) and now it took almost 2 to 3X as long to boot!!! A shame when I could boot my old Mandrake 9.1 Dolphin load in not time at all. And then I couldn't even get into the Knoppix GUI.... Only ICE and a few others. So, time to get a dedicated Debian or Kanotix load going. Cya around linux town.

[Harry Kuhman]

. It's is now time for me to move onto either Kanotix or a Debian load that is as feature rich as Knoppix and can fit on my 2.5 gig partition. Either Debian or Kantonix match the above description. But with Kantonix you will installthings that you never use and be close to a full partition as soon as it is installed. With Debian you will have to apt-get what you want, but that also means that you don't agp-get what you don't so you save space. I certainly would try Debian before goiing with Kantonix.

If space is really a problem then you could install Gnome rather than KDE (or pick another GUI). Or you could choose to install just the KDE GUI and not all of the support programs and games that come with it when you apt-get kde.

[NuxIT]

I gotta tell ya that the Debian part of Knoppix really grew on me. I really like how it worked. For instance, I don't know if most linux distros do this but when you type any letter into the terminal and hit TAB 2X it will show you all of the possible commands under that given letter or short name. Pretty cool feature I didn't notice until recently. I might look into SUSE or Debian since I have limited space. Thanks for all the tips and I'll report back after I make my decision and reload the old POS laptop.

[Cuddles]

NuxIT,

Harry points out one of the nice things, and, some of the "bad" things, that come with a Distro...

What comes "pre-packaged" on the CD, and does it "automatically" get installed.

If you want something close to Knoppix, Kanotix is as close as you can get... If you want to keep things as "clean" as possible, and do the "adding" after the install, May I suggest that you look for a Kanotix ISO that has "LITE" in its name... These installs will have, very few, "pre-installed" packages... This would leave you to having to install almost everything you want, over-and-above, say hardware detection and KDE, getting KDE's Office install instead of, say, OpenOffice... and such.

Even Kano, and many of the "followers" of Kanotix, will agree, after the HDD Install, of Kanotix, that, it does become a "complete" Debian SID install... I just like having all of Kano's scripts, and the hardware detection, not to mention a majority of stuff being set up for me.

Good Luck on your decision, but, then again, any Linux Distro, IMHO, is better than the best "Windows" OS - already :D
Ms. Cuddles
-=- Come to the Dark Side - We have penguins! -=-

[NuxIT]

Thanks again Cuddles. I'm going to try Kanotix next. I'll look into the "lite" distribution as well. The knoppix site appears to be in German. That doesn't mean the distro is German only does it? I'm going to give this a whirl come this weekend and see how it goes. I like how feature-rich Knoppix was and all the built-in networking utilities so I"m hoping the basic load of Kanotix will be similar and be about a 2 gig footprint to leave me 500megs for random storage needs. Regards, Chris