Some weeks ago I developed a fascination with USB stick applications. If you visit the winPenPack site (it’s in Italian but you can select English once you get there), there are several flavors, such as the “Essential” collection, “Game” collection, “School” collection and my favorite, “Web” collection, depending on your priorities and needs. Each collection contains a few dozen programs geared toward your interests and needs. On one little USB stick I have all the files for all the websites I manage, plus all the programs I could need for working on them, and even a mini-server to test drive the websites before loading to the actual web servers. It’s really mind-blowing what can fit on those little USB gadgets.
For a long time I’ve had a smoldering fascination with Linux. This comes largely from the fact that the “coolest” and most hard core web designers (and even moreso the hard core HTML and scripting authors) tend to be Linux devotees, which makes sense since the majority of websites are hosted on Linux based computers and, if you’re truly a “geek” you eschew Windows at least somewhat passionately. Many months ago I tried to run Linux on my laptop, but it didn’t last long because I ran smack into Linux’s notorious finickiness with wireless network connections. This past weekend I saw an article about running Linux from a self-contained bootable USB stick (i.e. you don’t have to partition your hard drive and install it there), and my fascination was revived.
I went to PendriveLinux and selected the Knoppix “distro”, and shortly had a USB stick all set to boot up my laptop. This presented no difficulty but I still ran smack into the same old tribulations trying to connect to my wireless router. This evening, however, I somehow stumbled through the right clicks in about 10 minutes, connected to the wireless router ergo the internet, got the Linux firewall going, and have been doing everything on Linux the past few hours. It’s not just the Linux Operating System, you see, but a gazillion programs including office suite, audio, video and graphics editing, games, internet, and lots lots more. Looking at this little USB thingie that holds all this stuff, one can’t help but mutter, “Incredible.”
Better than Windows? Eh, wrong question. If you ask the right question, the answer is, “Very satisfying. Oh, I almost forgot to mention — the only thing on this USB stick that wasn’t free was the USB stick, which I think was about $20.
Stick that, Bill!
Woo-Hoo Linux, Er, Knoppix
March 25, 2008
General
Comments Off on Woo-Hoo Linux, Er, Knoppix
John
For a long time I’ve had a smoldering fascination with Linux. This comes largely from the fact that the “coolest” and most hard core web designers (and even moreso the hard core HTML and scripting authors) tend to be Linux devotees, which makes sense since the majority of websites are hosted on Linux based computers and, if you’re truly a “geek” you eschew Windows at least somewhat passionately. Many months ago I tried to run Linux on my laptop, but it didn’t last long because I ran smack into Linux’s notorious finickiness with wireless network connections. This past weekend I saw an article about running Linux from a self-contained bootable USB stick (i.e. you don’t have to partition your hard drive and install it there), and my fascination was revived.
I went to PendriveLinux and selected the Knoppix “distro”, and shortly had a USB stick all set to boot up my laptop. This presented no difficulty but I still ran smack into the same old tribulations trying to connect to my wireless router. This evening, however, I somehow stumbled through the right clicks in about 10 minutes, connected to the wireless router ergo the internet, got the Linux firewall going, and have been doing everything on Linux the past few hours. It’s not just the Linux Operating System, you see, but a gazillion programs including office suite, audio, video and graphics editing, games, internet, and lots lots more. Looking at this little USB thingie that holds all this stuff, one can’t help but mutter, “Incredible.”
Better than Windows? Eh, wrong question. If you ask the right question, the answer is, “Very satisfying. Oh, I almost forgot to mention — the only thing on this USB stick that wasn’t free was the USB stick, which I think was about $20.
Stick that, Bill!