Quote Originally Posted by knoppixknut
but I think I am right in saying that Linux in general can be booted from any partition, slave/master hd and temp hd(usb)?
Oh, it can be booted. But all versions before 5 (maybe before 5.0.1) are a mix of different versions of Debian, very carefully selected and tested to work together correctly (at elast from CD). But when you update anything or install any new software, this mix of different incompatable versions is known to break.

There have also been a lot of problems of the form "this worked just fine when I booted from the CD, but after installing to the hard disk it no longer works". The network connection is a common problem that this has been happening to for over three years, but there are others. These things just shouldn't happen to a beginner with a Linux install.

Klaus is now saying that 5.0.1 is the first version of Knoppix that is ready for hard disk install. I'm assuming that this means the mixed version issue has gone away, altough I have not seen him actually say that. But the statement does reinforce the wisdom of not installing older versions.

Not that from what I have seen in these forums 5.0.1 is quite ready for install. I still am seeing "it stopped working after an install" problems. So while Klause is trying to move towards a version of Knoppix that can be installed; I just don't see any reason to fight with it when Debian Etch will install cleanly and then let you install any or all of the applications included with Knoppix and many many more.