<DIV><BR>Hi,</DIV>
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<DIV>Following Mike's suggestion, I tried to use Knoppix to install Debian.<BR>Mike's comments were basically correct about Knoppix, but there are<BR>some things that more experienced users should know. I decided<BR>against using it, but I did want to share my experiences using it with<BR>the group. So this is not a question it is yet another unsolicited<BR>column.</DIV>
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<DIV>First a minor note, when downloading Knoppix you should probably use a<BR>German site. I tried some of the American sites and they were<BR>unreliable or slow. Knoppix is packaged as an iso file so just burn<BR>it to CD using your favorite burner. Some people have problems with<BR>iso files, so a good reference for that is<BR><A href="http://www.debian.org/CD/faq/">http://www.debian.org/CD/faq/</A>. It tells how to burn iso images<BR>properly under unix, windows, and mac.</DIV>
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<DIV>Knoppix is a version of unix that is actually intended to be run on a<BR>CD (without using your harddrive). It seems to be designed to<BR>demonstate the capacities of Linux to people who only run Microsoft.<BR>It also looks like the demo was designed for educational purposes<BR>(selling computers to schools). It is a good marketing tool. People<BR>can see how Linux works without installing it on their harddrive. It<BR>autodetects everything very well at least for me (soundcard, video<BR>card, monitor). By the way, I am not sure whether it literally<BR>autodetects your monitor (last Redhat install I made, you simply<BR>choose your monitor from a list, and Redhat does have the best Linux<BR>install that I have seen), they may just make good/conservative<BR>assumptions about sync frequencies (properties of the monitor you need<BR>to do graphics). I am sure that it also allows you to use windows<BR>partitions that are currently on your drive. I didn't use this part<BR>since I don't have a windows partition so I can't comment on it. But<BR>I am pretty sure it would work because that is consistent with my<BR>interpretation of the cd's purpose.</DIV>
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<DIV>Once you are happy with Linux and decide to install it, the<BR>installation process is fairly simple. Just login as root and type<BR>knx-hdinstall. All you really have to tell it is which partition will<BR>be the root partition (/) and tell it if you want swap. It uses the<BR>debian woody install process to do this. It looks like they wrote a<BR>tcl/tk approach because on the root window that you executed the<BR>knx-hdinstall command you can see the same messages you get with a<BR>Debian install. The harddrive partitioning is the only question they<BR>ask you. It makes relatively intelligent default decisions for all<BR>other questions. The installation worked for me, I was able to get<BR>Debian up, and the windowing system (KDE was the default) looked nice.</DIV>
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<DIV>Now for the problem and why I did not want to use it. The basic<BR>problem is that is was too easy. You may wonder why I would say this,<BR>since I was looking for an easy install. During the hnx-install<BR>procedure they ask you where to put the swap and the root partition.<BR>They will of course also let you run without swap. Unfortunately they<BR>don't let you install other partitions like /var, /tmp, /boot, etc.<BR>You end up installing a system with just a '/' partition and swap.<BR>You reboot to enter Debian and these other partitions aren't mounted<BR>for you. Obviously you could fix this problem yourself, but a new<BR>Debian user or someone new to Unix couldn't. So there were two<BR>reasons I do not use knoppix:</DIV>
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<DIV>1. The partitioning was limited to root and swap so the benefit of<BR>auto detection is mitigated by not being able to setup the<BR>partitioning they way I like. <BR></DIV>
<DIV>2. Anytime there is a close call on<BR>using a nonstandard procedure (in any system Debian, Redhat,...), I'd<BR>rather just learn the standard procedure.</DIV>
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<DIV>It was a close call for me not to use Knoppix, since the benefit is<BR>that my system worked well without any difficulties that I mentioned<BR>in the Debian install post. But I already solved most of those<BR>problems. I'll just figure out the soundcard myself, it should not be<BR>that hard - famous last words :-)</DIV>
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<DIV>Even though there was this problem for me, Knoppix is very good for<BR>what it intends to do. Most all windows users only have a single<BR>partition anyway (C:). New users don't want to be bothered with the<BR>intracacies of drive partitioning under Linux. It's probably just<BR>good enough if they can get a swap partition. Hopefully they can do<BR>at least that. The repartitioning of the drive might be difficult<BR>since they use cfdisk. But all a windows user needs to do is delete<BR>all partitions, use new to create the '/' and 'swap' paritions. To<BR>generate the size of the swap partition, they just need to take 2*RAM<BR>and then add a little (10MB or 5% whichever is greater). That rule of<BR>thumb is all they would need.</DIV>
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<DIV>Also, if you ever want a quick installation, Knoppix works very well.<BR>It asks very few questions and all the packages (for the basics of a<BR>desktop) are included already on the cd.</DIV>
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<DIV>Another purpose for Knoppix might be if you want to run Linux at work<BR>but aren't allowed to modify the software on your computer (because of<BR>some corporate policy). Knoppix will run off the cd. I am<BR>not sure if it includes development tools though. It might be nice to run<BR>off a laptop you get from work. You can use Unix and the corporate<BR>policy makers would not notice.</DIV>
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<DIV>So in summary, I think Knoppix is very good for new users.<BR>Experienced unix users may want to just use the standard Debian<BR>install procedure. But if experienced users have problems installing,<BR>they may want to install Knoppix and take the XF86Config file or look<BR>at how it detects and installs other hardware for hints. Also if<BR>Debian developers are interested in getting a better install process<BR>for Debian looking at the Knoppix package would be a good start.</DIV>
<DIV><BR>Bill Gooding <BR>Date: 5-22-2003 <BR>(Note: I put the date just in case this<BR>post is read by someone later, computer advice has a short shelf life,<BR>and at some of my statements may not be valid as Knoppix improves)</DIV><p><hr SIZE=1>
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