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Linux on disk?

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voidmain:
Can you fit Windows on a single floppy? The best you are probably going to get on a single floppy is Tom's root/boot disk:

http://www.toms.net/rb/

You are not going to get a graphical environment on a single floppy (unless all you care about are ASCII text lines like a DOS menu, or curses menus in Linux).

DC:

quote:Originally posted by void main:
Can you fit Windows on a single floppy? The best you are probably going to get on a single floppy is Tom's root/boot disk:

http://www.toms.net/rb/

You are not going to get a graphical environment on a single floppy (unless all you care about are ASCII text lines like a DOS menu, or curses menus in Linux).
--- End quote ---


Hmm, there are 2 big problems with Tom's Root Boot:
1) Lack of programs
You can't do that much usefull stuff with Tomsrtbt, like go online and stuff (well, you could echo lines to the modem and read output, but something like lynx and pine is a minmum for me). Or compile stuff.
2) Slow bootup (not that much of a problem).
Reading and decompressing the entire FS from floppy takes way to long.

Besides, the disk is crammed full and then some.
This is not that much of a problem, since Tomsrtbt isn't made for a normal system, it's for emergencys and stuff, and has limitations that are forced on it by disk size limits and stuff. But this also makes it bad to start off.

It'll *work*, but for a real, usefull demonstration, use one of the bootable Linux CD-roms.

Calum:
yep, looks like Knoppix or the SuSE live evaluation CD

if you really need to fit it on a floppy how about either BasicLinux (which requires a DOS bootdisk which you can download from the powerload site or else you could use Floppix which is based on Debian. both of these fit onto two floppies, and i can personally vouch for BasicLinux, although it does not run to XWindows when it is installed on floppies.

voidmain:

quote:Originally posted by DC:
Hmm, there are 2 big problems with Tom's Root Boot:
1) Lack of programs
You can't do that much usefull stuff with Tomsrtbt, like go online and stuff (well, you could echo lines to the modem and read output, but something like lynx and pine is a minmum for me). Or compile stuff.
2) Slow bootup (not that much of a problem).
Reading and decompressing the entire FS from floppy takes way to long.

Besides, the disk is crammed full and then some.
This is not that much of a problem, since Tomsrtbt isn't made for a normal system, it's for emergencys and stuff, and has limitations that are forced on it by disk size limits and stuff. But this also makes it bad to start off.

It'll *work*, but for a real, usefull demonstration, use one of the bootable Linux CD-roms.
--- End quote ---


I realize all of this. That's why I said that it's about the best you are going to get on a floppy (which is what lazy was specifically asking for). It's also why I said to use Knoppix from CD.     But Tom's boot disk *is* an excellent disk for recovery (if you are not a n00b). Especially if you don't have a CD-ROM drive in the machine you are working with.

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: void main ]

slave:
If the computers are unable to boot from the cd-rom drive (as the computers are at my school because the BIOS is password protected and I can't go in and change the boot order) then you can make a knoppix boot floppy that will then load the rest of the OS off the cd rom.  There are instructions on the knoppix cd on how to do this.

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