Five Live CDs Reviewed
In the process, I have learned about these five flavors and wanted to share my experiences and findings with fellow geeks so that they can make their own choice. I have tried to write them in a no-frills style and to the point, though I am by no means an expert. Comments, criticisms and feedback are welcome at lnamath{@}phreaker.net.
GNU/Linux Live CDs
Live CDs are a way to run a GNU/Linux operating system from a CDROM without installing it on your hard drive. The CD comes with a collection of very useful software tools like a browser, office suite, graphics tools, audio tools, email software etc.
Some uses for the GNU/Linux Live CDs:
- Its a great way to learn about GNU/Linux without actually installing it on any particular machine. So you don't damage your existing set up.
- You can carry your favorite live CD distribution with you to the computer store when buying a new computer to make sure all the hardware works.
- You can use it to do an on-the-fly demo to your boss, clients or friends without spending hours installing the OS onto your hard drive.
- Use the Live CD as a repair or rescue CD when your boot loader is damaged or you have forgotten your root password of your hard disk installation of your GNU/Linux system.
- Use the Live CD at an Internet parlor which doesn't run GNU/Linux.
All the reviews were done on my Laptop which is a custom made Intel Pentium 1.6 GHz with 512 MB RAM running dual boot with Red Hat Linux 9 and Windows XP.
The following Live CD distributions were tested:
ADIOS is a Red Hat Linux 9 (2.4.22 kernel) based distribution which runs 3 different desktop environments, KDE, GNOME and ICE. The first thing I noticed is that you have lots of options to run the distribution, like run from CD or install on the hard drive, store profiles to a flash drive, and more.
Hardware detection was slower compared to the Debian based distributions. The boot time was 3 minutes and 30 seconds. All the hardware was detected and configured accurately. The distribution provides tools like the OpenOffice suite, Mozilla, Konqueror, GIMP, XMMS, KWrite, Gnome Toaster and so on. It has lots of games. Not that I game much. It has KDiskFree which can be used for viewing all your partitions and mounting the ones that are not mounted. However, when I tried writing to my vfat partition that I mounted, I didn't have write access and could not change the setting.
If you are creating a live CD, I think its imperative that you provide an intuitive way to mount a windows partition and be able to write to the same partition. I agree that NTFS partitions are more difficult, but writing to a vfat partition should be granted by default. Of course then it's easier for newbies to damage their partitions. ADIOS didn't allow root login at boot prompt which I thought was odd.
So after getting all this done, I wanted to check my mail and get my Slashdot fix for the hour. I configured my network card which picked up an IP using DHCP. Then I fired up Mozilla and used KMail to check my pop3 mail account. All of this was pretty zippy. All I needed to know were a few settings from my mail server. Another addition to this distribution which I didn't notice in any of the other distributions was an option to run User Mode Linux (UML) which is like running a GNU/Linux with-in another GNU/Linux. Its like a virtual machine.
I was pleased with this feature because I could simulate many machines on a single machine. For ADIOS, I think you can run nine UML sessions. So you can simulate 10 machines on a single machine. Also, you can run UML with Linux Intrusion Detection System (LIDS) turned On or Off. You can also run SELinux which is an enhanced kernel for extra security, developed by National Security Agency (NSA).
I was pretty impressed with this distribution because it's simple, has the goods and does the job well. Gripes: I'd like to see some development tools on the menu like KDevelop and Mono which is the GNU/Linux implementation of .NET.
For people comfortable using Red Hat Linux, this is a fairly decent distribution, with three available desktop environments.
GNOPPIX is a Debian-based distribution using the GNOME desktop environment. It is similar to KNOPPIX but with GNOME instead of KDE. GNOPPIX 0.6.0-beta3 has GNOME version 2.4.
It took about 3 minutes and 10 seconds to get to the desktop.
It recognized my screen resolution and partitions. But none of the partitions were automatically mounted. I looked around for a way to mount my Windows partition and couldn't find any. Since my terminal emulation wasn't working, I wasn't able to use the command line to mount it either. I tried this distribution on different machines and the console wasn't properly configured on any of those. I tried changing the character coding to UTF-8. But it didn't help. Since I work using both the mouse and the terminal command line, I found it very discouraging to use only the mouse because my terminal wasn't working.
This was a big let down. Another gripe was that quite a few menu selections weren't working. For example, I was not able to change my desktop background, or configure my network card. Also, when I tried to switch user, it crashed on me.
On the plus side, this distribution provided the Debian menu which has an excellent collection of tools. These include Dictionary, Open Office suite, Evolution, XMMS, Sodipodi, GnuCash, Anjuta and Glade, among others. Another interesting thing was that GNOPPIX had QTParted, which is partition resizing tool similar to Partition Magic. But you need to be root to run it. (At the terminal type su and you are root automatically).
GNOPPIX is still a work in progress and I think they have quite a bit of work before they catch up with MEPIS, KNOPPIX or ADIOS.
KNOPPIX is a Debian based distribution that runs only KDE. From the time I popped the CD in, the time I got to the desktop, took 2 1/2 minutes. And the first thing I noticed was that my screen was flickering. It found the right screen resolution but horizontal and vertical refresh rates weren't right. This is probably because my graphics card isn't of a very good quality. On the desktop were links to all the drives on my disk. Right click on any drive and you can mount them and change read/write permissions.
The left side of the bottom bar has two important menus, KMenu and the KNOPPIX menu. If you have a network and want to connect to the Internet, click on KMenu -> KNOPPIX -> Network/Internet -> Network Card Configuration. If you have DHCP enabled, click Yes. If not, try something like 200.0.0.1 as your eth0 IP address (using default value would work too). Enter your Network Mask (default value is fine too). Enter your broadcast address, your default gateway IP address and the address of your nameserver, and you are ready to browse the Internet.
Using the KNOPPIX menu, you can create a persistent Home directory and save your settings there. I save them on /mnt/hda6 which is a VFAT partition on my laptop. After booting up I type knoppix myconfig=/mnt/hda6 to load my configurations into the system.
KNOPPIX comes with all the basic tools like Konqueror (file manager and browser), Open Office Suite, Mozilla, KMail, & etc.
All the software is neatly arranged in groups so navigation is easy. You will find all the tools you need, and then some. I haven't had a chance to explore all of it. I was never a KDE fan, until I started using KNOPPIX. Now I've become a fan of KDE. It is very user friendly.
Also, KNOPPIX comes with partition Image, which can be used for rescue work. You can use it to save a partition into a new image file, restore a partition from and image file or restore your damaged Master Boot Record (MBR) from an earlier saved image.
My biggest gripe about KNOPPIX was that it didn't detect my win modem. But it did detect my USB flash drive.
MandrakeMove is an RPM based distribution that uses KDE 3.1. Time to reach the desktop was about 3 minutes. I had to choose my language, full name, username and password before I was allowed on the desktop. This took a lot of time and seemed unnecessary because I was in a hurry to get to a desktop or terminal. I find it quirky that a live CD should ask for this info before being able to use the system.
All of my Windows partitions were automatically mounted but none of my GNU/Linux partitions were mounted. The hardware detection wasn't great because it failed to detect my screen resolution of 1024 X 768. So I had to settle for 800 X 600. Added to this there was the irritating screen flicker. But when I tried the same distribution on a different machine, it configured my screen and Ethernet card, and grabbed an IP from my router. Konqueror was quick as always.
Open Office suite, GIMP, Konqueror, GnuCash, KDiskFree, KMail, ARK (compression software), K3B (CD burning software) were all easy to access from the main menu, which wasn't cluttered with excess choices.
After I hit the desktop, I clicked on Konsole to use the command line and I notice that the Konsole wasn't configured. So I had no way of configuring anything. I was doubtful that it would detect my flash drive, but when I popped it in, it was detected seamlessly.
MandrakeMove is a decent lightweight distribution, good for non-technical users because of its easy of use. I found the distribution very snappy.
MEPIS Linux is another Debian/KDE based distribution. Among all the distributions tested, MEPIS had the best hardware detection and the fastest boot time. Even my screen resolution was set accurately, and most of all no screen flickering. It was the only one able to configure my screen correctly.
The desktop has three important links:
- MEPIS System Center - Use this to configure your network card, display, mouse, and packages.
- MEPIS Installation Center - Use this to install MEPIS on to your hard drive, configure LILO boot loader, and install XConfig.
- MEPIS User Utilities - Use this to configure your spam filter and clean up user space.
Hardware detection was quick and easy. On the desktop, clicking on Mount Partitions shows all the partitions. All you need to do is to right click and then chose mount device.
I am currently typing this article using MEPIS. Among the distributions I have used on my laptop, this was the easiest to use and least complaining, with a good collection of tools.
Final Take
I am impressed with three of the five distributions I have reviewed, MEPIS, KNOPPIX and ADIOS. A casual or first time user will be able to use any of the three and be very productive without much fiddling around.
MEPIS had the best hardware detection. The others had problem identifying my laptop's refresh rates, so my screen was flickering. It also had a control center where you can configure the system. The fonts seemed a bit clunky, but it was very easy to mount partitions. It also had QTParted which can be used to resize your fat32, NTFS and GNU/Linux partitions.
KNOPPIX is a genuine winner on most hardware. It lost out to MEPIS because it wasn't able to configure my monitor well enough. However, if you run KNOPPIX on any standard hardware, I am sure it will be as good as MEPIS.
ADIOS would be helpful to people who like to run tests using User Mode Linux because none of the others have that feature. ADIOS had very good documentation and lots of boot time options.
GNOPPIX is good for GNOME fans, but it needs work. Some of the menu items wouldn't start and some of the documentation was in German, without an English translation, also I had problems with the terminal emulation. I would not recommend it to power users at this point because it needs quite a bit of work.
MandrakeMove is easy to use for people used to the Windows environment. But when compared to the functionality of KNOPPIX, ADIOS and MEPIS, it kind of loses it luster and looks and works very plainly. It took longer to load because you need to enter geographic, language and login information each time you boot. It didn't come with as many tools as the other distributions.
Looking at the boot time, ADIOS was a little slow, MEPIS and KNOPPIX were the fastest.
So, if I could have just one live CD, it would be MEPIS, followed by KNOPPIX and then ADIOS.
I hope you enjoyed this review. Please realize that this review is based on the testing done on my laptop. Most of my impressions about the distributions were based on their respective performance on my laptop. On a standard desktop, the results might have been different.
| RATING CRITERIA |
MEPIS |
KNOPPIX |
ADIOS |
GNOPPIX |
MandrakeMove |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Boot Up Time |
2 |
2 |
3.5 |
3.1 |
3 |
|
Ease of Use |
9.5 |
9.5 |
9 |
8.5 |
9.5 |
|
Hardware Detection |
10 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
8 |
|
Responsiveness |
10 |
9.5 |
9.5 |
8 |
9 |
|
Tools Collection |
10 |
9.8 |
9 |
9.8 |
9 |
|
Navigability |
9.5 |
9.8 |
9 |
9.0 |
8.5 |
|
Documentation |
9.5 |
9.5 |
9.5 |
9 |
9 |
|
Scalability |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
|
Features (Additional) |
9.8 |
9.8 |
8.5 |
9 |
8.5 |
|
Coolness |
9.5 |
9.7 |
9 |
8.5 |
9 |
|
Robustness |
9.7 |
9.7 |
9 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
|
Final Score (Average) |
9.65 |
9.53 |
9.05 |
8.63 |
8.7 |
About the author.
Lenish "lenman" Namath is a computer geek, GNU/Linux enthusiast and a
software developer. He has degrees in Computer Science and Mechanical
Engineering, and speaks six languages fluently. He started using computers
at the age of 14. When not developing clean software, he loves traveling,
hiking and photography. He also was the university Racquetball champion in
2003. He can be reached at lnamath{@}phreaker.net
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