[Lvlug] Slackware live

[Randy Kramer]

Simmons, Kevin wrote:
> Am I right in thinking that the Slackware live disk allows Linux to run off
> the CD?  

Yes.

> What are the advantages and disadvantages? 

This is just off the top of my head, and there are some things Dann
might be able to comment on. 

Advantages:
   * No installation required
   * Can use somebodies else's PC with a promise that you won't disturb
their hard disk (don't know if Slackware Live is set up that way now,
but it could be, although in the current setup the only user is root
(AFAIK) and he could do nasty things
   * See the second, third, and forth bullets below -- you may never
have to reboot the system, so you might never need to configure it a
second time or save anything to disk ;-)

Disadvantages:
   * If you don't have access to the hard drive (see above) you can't
save anything to the hard drive.  
   * To save anything, you will need to use floppy disks, or save to the
'net, or something along those lines
   * Unless you burn a custom version of Slackware Live, or you are
lucky and all the modules you need are installed in the base kernel and
configured properly, you will have to configure a certain amount of
stuff each time you start Slackware Live
   * To configure the things mentioned above, you will have to have the
necessary information (manufacturer, model number, IRQs of things like
modems, NICs, video cards, etc. -- although much of this stuff might be
autodetected these days

It would be interesting to hear from Dann -- I don't know whether he had
to do some customizing of the Slackwire Live disk, or if the
configuration we use is exactly what you might download from the
Internet.  (Or, maybe he even had to put Slackware Live together from a
Slackware 8.0 distribution?)

Randy Kramer

> I'm thinking this may
> be a good way to run Linux on my PC at work.  Thanks.