LiveCD News

Useful instructions from LifeHacker for anyone getting started with LiveCDs.

How to Boot From a CD or USB Drive on Any PC.

The creators of the popular and comprehensive security LiveCD BackTrack released a new distro name Kali Linux

Kali is a more mature, secure, and enterprise-ready version of BackTrack Linux.

• Official Announcement
• The H Open
• LifeHacker

Barry Kauler, the developer of the Puppy family of Linux distributions, has released version 5.5 of the Wary and Racy branches of the project.

via The H Open

Lifehacker is collecting votes for the Best System Rescue Disc.

…and the results.

Slax is back!

I’m happy to announce the final release of Slax version 7.0, code name Green Horn. After more than three years of silence Slax is back in action and is better than ever before. Also the website got updated, so make sure to check www.slax.org, youll love it.

via Slax Linux.

For years Ubuntu has released a LiveCD (Desktop), LiveDVD (DVD), and text-mode installer (Alternate) for each release. For 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal), Ubuntu is getting rid of these three images and releasing a single, 800 MB Desktop DVD image.

While their download sites still list this as the Desktop CD, it’s too large to be burned normally, so they’ll have to update the name.

See the announcement on their Email List. Also, check out coverage on OMG! Ubuntu!

Ars Technica creates a bootable LiveUSB of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview:

To get an idea of what can and cant be done with Windows to Go, I built my own installation of the OS—a task that is not for the faint of heart, as it involves the command line.

via Ars Technica

Speaking at this years CeBIT Open Source Forum, Knoppix creator Klaus Knopper presented version 7.0 of his popular Live Linux distribution.

via The H Open Source.

An overview of a LiveUSB creator for Linux and Windows.

LiveUSB Install, which is written in PyGTK, may be a powerful tool for ‘burning’ LiveUSB’s but it is still very easy to use.

via OMG! Ubuntu!

The Puppy Linux development team has released version 5.2.8 of its minimal Linux distribution.

via The H Open Source

A quick overview of GParted Live.

If you ever need to partition or edit the partitions on your hard drives without an existing OS on the computer, then GParted Live should be in your PC toolbox.

via PCWorld

Linux Journal checks out UNetbootin and usb-creator, two great tools for easily creating LiveUSB devices.

This issue of Linux Journal is all about how to get Linux in your pocket. In this article, I go one better and tell you how to get Linux on your fingernail. Now, before you get too excited, I won’t be discussing some new nano-computer being used by James Bond, unfortunately. Instead, I discuss how to put Linux on a micro-SD card (or any other USB drive, for that matter). Using this, you can run Linux on any machine that can boot off a USB device.

via Linux Journal.

Ubuntu 11.04 is out, grab the live Desktop CD in order to check out Canonical’s new GUI.

Canonical has announced the official release of Ubuntu 11.04, codenamed Natty Narwhal. This major update introduces the new Unity desktop shell, which is designed to improve ease of use and deliver a more modern user experience.

via Ubuntu 11.04 released, a Natty Narwhal rises from the depths.

Kyle Rankin, author of Knoppix Hacks, has a Google Tech Talk presentation video detailing tricks for customizing Knoppix without going through the lengthy remastering process.

I examine nine AV rescue CDs designed to remove particularly nasty malware to determine which is the best disc, and if the free ones are good enough.

via PCMag.com

OMG! Ubuntu! has an article covering additional uses for the Ubuntu LiveCD besides installation.

Lifehacker has a Top 10 list of cool stuff to do with a USB flash drive. Numbers 9, 7, and 1 involve Live booting operating systems from them.

I’ll just get this out right now, I’ve fallen for Live USB drives. Yes, and if you haven’t yet, you will. What fills an entire CD, only fills 17% of a 4GB thumb drive (8% of an 8GB, 4% of a 16GB, 2% of a 32GB, and so on). And you don’t have to throw them away when you’re done using them or if they’re outdated, you just reinstall.

via TildeHash

OMG! Ubuntu! is featuring Novo Builder, an easy to use LiveCD/DVD creation tool.

via OMG! Ubuntu!

Puppy Linux 5.0 is out!

Lucid Puppy 5.0 consists of the popular Puppy Linux architecture that Puppy founder Barry Kauler has been refining through 4 editions of Puppy Linux.  But this time Puppy is built with binary packages from the latest Ubuntu release Lucid Lynx, hence Lucid Puppy 5.0.  The Puppy architecture is well known to be lean and fast, and friendly and fun, and Lucid Puppy is no exception.

via Puppy Linux Release Announcement.