Chapter 19 . Running Bootable Linux Distributions 497 (Starting a web site)
Chapter 19 . Running Bootable Linux Distributions 497 Puppy Linux The other heavyweight contender for lightweight Linux bootables is Puppy Linux (www.goosee.com/puppy). The Puppy Linux iso image is about 61MB. So, for example, you can install and boot Puppy Linux on a 128MB flash drive and still have another 60+MB of space left for data. Puppy Linux is built for speed, small size, and ease of use. To emphasize the easeof- use aspects, Puppy Linux tends to lean more toward open and easy than closed and secure. Here are some examples: . Writes to your hard disk Before you just start using Puppy Linux on someone else s computer, know that if it finds a hard disk when it boots up, it will mount that disk read/write and write a pup001 file to the root of the first usable partition it finds. It will then mount that partition on /mnt/home and leave it writable during your Puppy Linux session. Changes you make during your Puppy Linux session are stored in that pup001 file. So, for example, you don t need to enter keyboard, mouse, or video card information again when you boot from that machine. Most bootable Linux systems do not automatically write to a hard disk partition it finds. You should decide how secure you feel with that. . Loads to RAM When you load Puppy Linux it will, by default, run in RAM. So you should get excellent performance, provided your machine has at least 128MB of RAM available. With Puppy Linux in RAM, that also frees up your CD/DVD drive. So you can pop in a CD or DVD and play it without disturbing the running Puppy Linux system. . Sets no firewall rules Because Puppy Linux uses a Linux 2.4 kernel, the iptables firewall is built in. However, no firewall rules are set by default. So, if you are thinking of expanding Puppy Linux to offer some services (Web server, mail server, and so on), keep in mind that it is intended for a desktop system and not built to securely offer services. Every major category of desktop applications is represented in Puppy Linux. For word processing, you have abiword. You can play music with GPlayer and video with Gxine. Much of the Mozilla suite is included for Web browsing, mail, news, and HTML editing. For other Internet client applications, you have GAIM (instant messaging), Gftp (FTP client), and Sylpheed mail/news client, as well as remote login tools (secure shell and telnet). Other personal productivity tools that come with Puppy Linux include calendar (Xcalendar and Mozilla Calendar), spreadsheet (Planmaker), contacts (Gabby and Mozilla Addressbook), finance manager (Xfinans), and personal information (DidiWiki) applications. Most of these applications are lightweight, but serviceable, applications.
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