LiveCD News

CLICK has news that DSL will get Firefox 2.

Firefox in DSL will move from the current version 1 to the GTK 1 version of Firefox 2. Thats a big deal because a lot of Web sites require at least Firefox 1.5 for full functionality. It means, for one thing that itll be possible to use Google Docs and Spreadsheets with Damn Small Linux.

DesktopLinux.com has pics and news of Custom NimbleX 2, which allows anyone to customize and then download a LiveCD ISO of NimbleX. Get to it directly at http://custom.nimblex.net/ .

Wired gives credit to LiveCDs for the rise in the popularity of Linux desktop computing.

Part of this growth can be chalked up to the trend of the LiveCD, a bootable disk image that users can download and burn to a CD to test the software. Most of the popular Linux makers release software on LiveCDs, and many also ship physical CDs to curious users anywhere in the world for free or for a nominal fee.

Some interesting news from the Direct2Dell Blog, a Fedora based LiveCD has been created to help update the BIOS of your Dell. This is much nicer than having to install Windows or a floppy drive to grab a new BIOS.

snorp.net has news of an openSUSE LiveCD Installer. Hopefully this makes it into the next LiveDVD, or they do what Fedora did and convert their 6 CD set into a single installable LiveCD.

/home/liquidat shares some information about OpenSuse’s re-spin creator. Support is included for creating LiveCDs, LiveDVDs, and LiveUSB flash drives with OpenSUSE.

Everyone can easily create his own version of Fedora with the re-spin tool Revisor. OpenSuse also develops a tool with a similar purpose, KIWI.

LXer has a link to this digital photo frame kit running Damn Small Linux. It includes WIFI, so you can probably SSH into you photo frame.

GOSHEN, Ind. – RedPost inc., an Indiana-based tech startup, today announced the launch of RedPost/Kit, a do-it-yourself digital photo frame kit that comes with everything you need to get up and running.

DesktopLinux.com tells of how Puppy Linux is being used on low cost PCs with PXE booting and settings saved to USB flash drives.

Following the addition of PXE network booting to the ultra-lightweight Puppy Linux distribution, a group of enthusiasts offering Puppy customization and support services has revealed plans for “Minipup,” a project aimed at ultra-low-cost diskless hardware such as sub-$100 PCs.

DistroWatch Weekly has news of NimbleX’s new web LiveCD configuration tool. Choose the packages you want, then download your custom NimbleX ISO.

DistroWatch Weekly has some good LiveCD news in the Miscellaneous News section, including links to a 64-bit build of Knoppix 5.1.1.

Something to watch for, Google’s Summer of Code is sponsoring a graphical utility to create custom LiveCDs!

My proposal is to construct a graphical user interface that can be used in conjunction with live-helper to build Debian Live systems, allowing editing of existing configurations and including a ‘wizard’-style walkthrough for the first-time user.

Providing less experienced users with the opportunity to easily create live distributions will generate more exposure for live-helper, providing more valuable feedback for its developers and ultimately helping Debian’s image as an extremely flexible and free operating system.

Linux by Examples uses the SLAX LiveCD to perform some data recovery and repair on a couple broken Windows machines.

CLICK reviews FreeSBIE, and has some issues getting networking setup.

But I’m not a full card-carrying geek, so I’m not all that crazy about going to the command line with no help whatsoever just to get freakin’ Internet flowing into the box with a live CD I’ve never run before on an OS I’ve also never run before.

TimesDispatch.com points to LiveCDs when a reader asks for an easy way to try Linux.

Q:I just tried Windows Vista and was soooo impressed that now I’d like to try out Linux. What is the best way to dip my toes into the Linux pond?

Geeks.com tech-tips has an intro to Linux LiveCDs.

A Live CD is a great way to test out Linux without worrying about what it may do to your computer.

KNOPPIX 5.2 has been announced and will probably be showing up on the torrent sites soon, with an official release public release of 5.2.1 coming in April. Some of the major changes are inclusion of the Beryl 3D desktop, NTFS-3G 1.0, and a boatload of virtualization technologies.

As announced on Heise.de, the first special edition of Knoppix 5.2.0 is included in c’t magazines 7/07 issued during CeBIT 2007. This version is only available within the german magazine, plus distributed in limited numbers at CeBIT 2007, Heise-booth in hall 5, and at the booth of Rheinland-Pfalz in hall 9, C39/21. The next public download edition (5.2.1) will be issued as CD and DVD probably in April 2007.

DistroWatch Weekly looks at a new version of Wolvix, and talks about the collaboration between them and Ultima.

Linux Monitor brings a list of their favorite LiveCDs.

Free Software Magazine blogs about a new combination video and Live DVD.

A DVD that comes with lots of great examples of Free Culture which plays in your DVD player, with even more examples when you put it in your computer – including a GNU/Linux Live CD. The idea is simple: help to get the word out about Free Culture, including Free Software, by showing off what’s already been achieved; the thing is, we need your help!

DesktopLinux has an overview the the new BackTrack 2.0 LiveCD.