Running Knoppix from CD, very impressed!

[spydie]

As I type this I'm running Knoppix from the cd.
I just wanted to say how very impressed I am with knoppix.
I downloaded it to a cd and then booted up off of it and everything went really smooth.

I have two computers at home on a network and I connect to the internet using a cable modem.

Just to be on the safe side I tried it on my second computer on the network. It's a older computer and I was thinking if I really screwed things up trying to run Knopix I would still have my main computer and the interent connection.

Well to my surprise I booted up off my knoppix cd and everything worked great. I really did not think I would be able to browse the interent with knoppix like I am. When I seen the location bar in the window and I typed in yahoo.com and it came up my jaw hit the floor :)
I did not have to manually set up anything.

Today is the begining of running a new OS and maybe the end of microsoft for me....

Knoppix, very impressed!

[Cuddles]

I know what you mean Spydie, its almost euphoric isn't it?

I was floored by the Live CD, considering you don't have to even install anything to get it running. I was so happy with the Live CD, I'm looking for the distribution of either Debian, Linux, Mandrake, or Red Hat, to get the whole thing installed on a hard drive. My thinking is: If it is THIS good on a Live CD, just think how good it will be on a full install !

My enthusiasm is so much, you want to just go walking into a OS Vendor that sells only M$ OS's, find someone who thinks that Win[xxx] is so neato, that you tell them about this OS that can do even more, and without all the headaches with that "other" OS.

I think Linux is really going to rattle the OS Cage.
Cuddles
[ps] Glad you got online as easy as you did. I've got one of those "ick" WinModems on my system, and Linux doesn't like it. So, new system is getting a "non-WinModem" and Linux. :D

[spydie]

Hi Cuddles,
I'm like a kid with a new toy today :)
I have so many questions now.

I will do some more reading to see if I can find answers to my many questions first and then If I can't I know I can always ask them on this forum in a new post.

I do have one quick question I would like to know right away and maybe you could help me with.

When I'm running knoppix from the cd like I 'am now and I'm online is my nortons ant virrus software doing anything for me?

If I would have to quess, I would say it's not, because it is a windows program, correct?

or don't I have to worry about virrus if I'm running something other then a M$ OS?

Thanks in advance for your help,

[windos_no_thanks]

As long as you are running from the CD you are pretty safe since
it is a read-only medium. Even when running from the hard drive you
are relatively safe (compared to running a M$ product+antivirus software)
Using good passwords, not running services you don't need and
updating software when security holes are discovered goes a long way
to secure your box. If you feel that is not enough you might look into
installing something like tripwire (http://www.tripwire.org/)

[spydie]

Hi, windos_no_thanks

Sounds great!
It's starting to look like I have been wasting my money on M$, no more!

I have been having so much fun this afternoon running Knoppix on my old computer (333mhz) I decided to put the cd in my main computer and give it a try.

My main computer is much faster 1.8M, 512 ram and faster cd.

Knoppix seems really fast on my main computer compared to my old one.
I think I'm going to run it for a few days from the CD then do a HD install.

Good bye M$ ...... :)

[Cuddles]

Spydie, as was mentioned by Windos_No_Thanks - Linux is, from what I hear, pretty secure in itself. ( I never heard of a virus program for Linux ) until now.

Kewl Spydie, I have a system pretty close to your New System on order - you must be lovin it huh???

I thought of that first moment I started up Knoppix for the first time: I felt like a kid in a candy store, with an all expense account - it can't get any better :)

I agree with you also Spydie on the M$ issue - I've spent thousands on M$ software, in OS, development programs, protection in the AV side, and firewalls - and never felt as secure as I feel Knoppix/Linux feels.

I am affraid you are right on your Norton though, it is being fired off in your boot and within Windows start-up areas - since using the CD-ROM to boot, you have actually by-passed the "normal" boot of your hard drive, and completely by-passed Windows and its start-up processes. But, do you miss it? From what I hear, here, and in other documentation on the subject of "defensive" software for Linux - get a firewall, no one has ever said a word about virus' - I think because everyone hates M$ so much, at least the "mallicious" virus creators. They seem to target a lot of things that M$ has, and the lack of. Consider the newest Worm - it only attacks Win2000, XP, and up systems - so if you have Win95, Win98, and Win98SE - you are safe from this new worm virus. Most virus' are simply a way to prove that "Houston we have a problem..." - and to point the fact out to those who didn't notice it in the first place. Macintosh systems had viruses, mostly due to the fact that the OS, upon inserting a disk into the floppy drive, was immediately scanned. Viruses were created to prove that this could be a problem. Win[anything] has enough problems to keep any virus creator happy for years until they retire.

As a side note: I was contemplating the whole Virus/Virus program thinking a while back. Did Viruses exist before a Virus Program was created to detect them? Kind of like the Chicken and the Egg thing. Currently, I think new viruses are being created to keep the Virus Software companies in business, but I can't prove that. But, it is interesting that new virus signatures are being made almost as fast as you can download them. Oh well, ranting as I may - I am serious about one thing - M$ isn't getting my money any more - I would much rather take all the money I would have paid M$, and send it to Debian, or Red Hat, or Knoppix, or even Linux, for more investment into the future of Linux development - I think that would be an investment more worthy of time and research than to line the pockets of Mr. Bill Gates and the Ol' Mighty God that is M$. Welcome to reality Mr. Gates - the future may NOT include M$.

IMHO,
Cuddles

[Stephen]

I would much rather take all the money I would have paid M$, and send it to Debian, or Red Hat, or Knoppix, or even Linux, for more investment into the future of Linux development
Cuddles

http://www.fsf.org/ can always use some extra cash.

[grassmike]

I am totally excited by what everyone is saying. I have been following Linux for some time and when I read about Knoppix.net at DemocraticUnderground I came here.

If Knoppix is so user friendly it will spread like wildfire, especially as people have broadband and can work off a CD.

The big deal is the 2.6 kernel. If someone would tell me that the download site is running 2.6 I will be off. This computer is MicroSoft but for sure, this is the last one before joining the Linux movement.

There is another issue that seems not to get much mention. It has do with using a USB harddrive. Let us say that I get the 2.6 kernel of Knoppix and want to use it as a primary system. Could I just add a hard drive or a USB hard drive instead of wiping out MicroSoft?

I am not just asking this for myself. I have read more than most newbies and think these are questions that should be answered on a download paage or in a recent thread like this one.

Thanks guys. I will be here in and out. I will be a good recruiter for the cause.

There is a long thread at Slashdot on the launch of Linux 2.6 dated December 17th- http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/12/18/0418205&mode=thread&tid=106&tid=185&tid=190