Some Popular Linux LiveCDs (as of 2005)

If you burn a LiveCD, and if it is convenient, could you burn a second LiveCD to donate to the class lending library? If you borrow a class LiveCD, and if you burn a copy for yourself, could you burn a second copy to donate back to the class lending library? Thank you.

NOTE: LiveCDs tend to have poor support for modems (soft modems), and only support for wireless on some computers. They have good support for sound, but will not work on a few computers. If you want Ethernet, you must configure it after it comes up (as you would do for regular Windows or Linux). LiveCDs can access your hard disk, and even write to it. On Windows, read-only access is the default, but the menu item "Capture NTFS" supports read-write access. Most (but not all LiveCDs) are based on the Debian Linux distribution.

What to do if it doesn't boot: Does your BIOS try to boot from CD (or DVD drive) before trying to boot from hard disk? If the LiveCD offers a failsafe boot option from the menu, try it. If it offers no failsafe, but it allows you to type into the boot prompt, then try:
   linux26 vga=mormal nosound noapic noscsi nodma noapm nousb nopcmcia nofirewire noagp nomce nodhcp nosmp xmodule=vesa
(You might need "linux" instead of "linux26".) Once it works, try using a subset of the options until you figure out which one is required. Note that if it boots most of the way throug, then your hardware is probably okay, and it may be failing on recognizing your video card. In that case, "xmodule=vesa" and/or "vga=normal" is probably the option that you want. This happens especially on notebook computers.

Knoppix (4 copies in lending library and 1 liveDVD and 2 version 3.9 liveCDs --- 3 copies lent out)

Original live CD; Runs well on most machines; Includes OpenOffice (similar to Microsoft Office), Gimp (similar to Photoshop), gcc and gdb (useful for doing course homework :-) ), etc. Now also available: Knoppix DVD with the majority of the popular free software packages on a LiveDVD. Also available is Knoppix64, which takes advantage of the AMD64 architecture.

• See also Games Knoppix LiveCD and LiveDVD with Downloads

MediaInLinux (2 copies in lending library)

Multimedia specialty (video editing, sound studio, creating graphics, etc.); some packages may not be properly configured, but an impressive selection of multimedia packages not commonly found in other LiveCDs. In my personal case, I had to use a trick to get it to boot properly. I typed: "Linux26 xmodule=vesa" (capital "L" required).

• See MediaInLinux description for some of the apps that it supports.

Kanotix (3 copies in lending library)

Similar to Knoppix; Includes "Klik" allowing you to quickly install additional packages of free software via the Internet. More frequent releases than Knoppix. Includes additional support for DSL modems and other connectivity features. Claims easy install to hard disk (in about 10 minutes).

Elive (0 copies in lending library)

Enlightenment window manager: lots of eye candy (special effects on the desktop)

Gnoppix (0 copies in lending library)

Version of Knoppix based on Gnome desktop instead of KDE desktop

Quantian (0 copies in lending library)

For scientific computing; Includes Maxima (like Mathematica), Axiom (also like Mathematica), Octave (like Matlab), gnuplot (plotting), R (statistic package), SciLab (numerical simulations), QCad (Computer-Aided Design), DrScheme, Latex (often used for scientific publishing), etc. (Useful for ECE courses?) Recent versions are for DVD, but older versions fit on a CD.

Monoppix (0 copies in lending library)

Showcase of .NET technology as implemented for Linux; Includes runtime environment, compiler and class libraries; also the MySQL database.

eduKnoppix (0 copies in lending library)

Education software for teachers and pupils (ages 12 and up); includes comprehensive range of Mathematics packages

Ubuntu (0 copies in lending library)

Available as both a liveCD, and as an installCD. You can burn the liveCD and try it out (e.g. latest Gnome desktop: version 2.12). If you decide you like it, you then download the separate installCD (which supports a very easy install procedure), burn it, and then use it to install Ubuntu to your hard disk. Versions are also available to take advantage of features of AMD64.

Helix (0 copies in lending library)

For forensic analysis of disks, also many open source tools to recover files from disk crash. (Download link is out-of-date, but home page link works and links to download.)

SystemRescueCD (0 copies in lending library)

The name says it; for computers that are not booting.

DragonFly Linux

Based on FreeBSD-4.x (avoids FreeBSD-5 under the philosphy that it's starting to suffer from feature-itis, at the cost of the underlying model)

Magic Linux

by and for the Chinese-speaking community

Wolvix

Multimedia and entertainment, based on Xfce Desktop lightweight environment (also, see Wolvix Games Edition and Wolvix Media Edition)

Grafpup Linux

Less than 100 MB; Professional Digital Imaging specialty: Gimp, Cinepaint (high-end image editor, complements Gimp), Inkscape, gtKam, XnView (imports, exports, converts many file formats; does resize/rotate/crop, etc.), LCMS (Little Color Management System), DcRAW (supports raw CCD files of mid- and high-end digital cameras), mtPaint (simple painting program for pixel art and manipulating digital photos); Office: Scribus, Bluefish Editor (web development), Ted WP (lightweight WP); Multimedia: Gxine, Graveman (CD/DVD writing), TkDVD (GUI for DVD writing)

Puppy Web (Puppy Linux)

Amazingly small Linux, about 60 MB; yet can add packages that will persist in future sessions; Operating system loads into RAM, and CD is still available; Can save new files back to CD (multi-session-live-CD/DVD)

DreamLinux (Studio Edition)

Specialty in Video and Audio Editing and web design: Wings, Blender, Inventor, Kino, jahshaka, avidemux, dvdrip, audacity, ceemedia, nvu