URGENT - Should I uninstall KNOPPIX from my HD and use another distro such as DEBIAN.

I've been using KNOPPIX 3.6 and 3.9 installed on my laptop HD for over a year and love it.
I now want to run kismet (wireless sniffer) and cant get it to work. I was prepared to hack around and get it working then i read this on this MB:

t just amazes me that people call themselves new Knoppix users but yet they insist on installing what is intended as a Live CD to their hard disk.

In my experience I would expect Knoppix to detect your ethernet interface just fine, and in fact you haven't posted any information on if it does or not. Failing to properly access the Internet is an extremely common problem after a hard disk install. I don't have any numbers to back this up, but from two years of watching the forums I would say that it is the most common problem after a hard disk install and it certainly has been going on for at least two years. I would suggest a very simple experiment: Boot Knoppix the way God intended, from CD, and see if it detects your ethernet that way. If it does and you have a system that gives you a DHCP setup then you will likely be on the Internet as soon as the boot finishes. If you are using DLS and for some crazy reason are not using a router, then you likely will also have to deal with PPPoE setup. But you should be able to determine if Knoppix can detect your card this way. If it does then your problem is not Knoppix lacking the right driver, it is the very common problem of Knoppix failing to run the network properly after a hard disk install.
This has really surprised me. I want a LInux HD install on my laptop.

So my big question is should I ditch Knoppix and use something else ? Debian ?