Knoppix 8.6 Released - This Original Linux Live Distro Now Based On Debian Buster

[SystemCrasher]

2. Most of the LiveCD or LiveDVD distributions are designed to gradually entice the user to install. So it makes sense to give the user the same UI on the Live medium that they would get with a full installation. You're just going to confuse and annoy a novice if they see LXDE from the disk and then KDE after install, or similar. So yeah, GNOME 2 or GNOME 3 on a live disk is painfully slow, but it doesn't make sense to do something else if that's what you get after installation.

I've had most woeful experience with Debian 10 Live DVD. The whole thing can easily take ~10 minutes to boot. Even XFCE version that is supposed to be "lite". Or maybe 4 minutes, if you put image on 3.5" HDD. Just because it comes with all kind of crap for all occasions, be it java, python, tcl, ruby, apache ant and ton of other stuff I've forgot. At which point not even the fact its XFCE would save you. Most ironic part? Oh wise debian guys forgot to put grub on their live DVDs. At least i386 + nonfree Live DVDs they released. So after hour and half of install system just can't boot. That's what I would call pretty hilarious SNAFU.

Realistically, if someone just needs bootable medium for system-level stuff like recovery and so on and doesnt plans to do 3D cad or Java development using live image (which is prohibitively slow and grossly inconvenient anyway) their best bet is something like live image of {K,X,L}ubuntu. At least these aren't DVD-sized, so they boot and run considerably faster (and I bet there is hell a lot of room for improvement). And I'm sorry, but doing 3D CAD or heavyweight Java development out of live DVD is worst brainfart I ever seen. Just by looking on startup times and overall performance of all that... especially if actually using, ahem, DVD.

[JMB9]

danmcgrew Yes, it's still the case - it was version 8.5 which was exclusively for Linux-Magazin (see http://www.knopper.net/; it's missing on the English version): "Anlässlich des Events erscheint eine neue Knoppix-Version, 8.5, im Linux-Magazin.":
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/knoppix850.html (using Linux 4.20.6 and Xorg 7.7 {core 1.20.3}).
But the latest version can just be downloaded via a mirror site:

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html

So this is the polished, updated free version - same procedure as every year.
The boot options have changed - and thus the knoppix-cheatcodes.txt file (which has not changed for several versions and now dates 17-Aug-2019) ... I always use toram and give the real screen resolution if I want to give it a try.

[danmcgrew]

It's always been my impression that the reason Klaus Knopper originally wrote Knoppix, and the sole reason for its existence NOW, is as bullet-proof operating system which one could load onto machines--with all needed trouble-shooting analysis software immediately available--when disaster struck/strikes. That is why he wrote it as a LIVE distribution, and it was one of the very first--if not THE first of the live Linux distros; and an amazing feat, which showed the rest of the world how to do that.
Tryng to use Knoppix as a Linux distribution in live mode, as a conventional Linux distribution, verges on lunacy. It is meant as an analysis and (where possible) repair tool,for when everything goes, as people of the British persuasion would say, "tits-up", or "all pear-shaped'; and you need a convenient, friendly tool to tell you what's wrong, and and help you get out of trouble. Knoppix was never created to be a general-purpose Linux distribution.

Knoppix does, however, make for a for very good, general-purpose Linux distribution; just be sure to install it permanently on your hard disk/SSD.

[Vistaus]

At least Knoppix chose LXDE rather than Gnome. LiveCDs like Fedora which load the whole Gnome DE were unbarable; even with Gnome 2.
In general "LiveCDs" used to be such an overblown hype; most installers went that route so you had to wait for the whole bloated DE to load before you could install the darn thing.

The most important thing I can see about Knoppix for some people is the "Adriane Audio Desktop". Not many Linux distros (or any other OS) are acceptable for blind people. I can see Knoppix being extremely important here.

That's literally the first time I heard someone refer to GNOME 2 as slow/unbearable.

[danmcgrew]

danmcgrew Yes, it's still the case - it was version 8.5 which was exclusively for Linux-Magazin (see http://www.knopper.net/; it's missing on the English version): "Anlässlich des Events erscheint eine neue Knoppix-Version, 8.5, im Linux-Magazin.":
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/knoppix850.html (using Linux 4.20.6 and Xorg 7.7 {core 1.20.3}).
But the latest version can just be downloaded via a mirror site:

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html

So this is the polished, updated free version - same procedure as every year.
The boot options have changed - and thus the knoppix-cheatcodes.txt file (which has not changed for several versions and now dates 17-Aug-2019) ... I always use toram and give the real screen resolution if I want to give it a try.

Thank you very much. That explains why I can't find the magazine/DVD combination any more. I do wonder why, though...

[kpedersen]

That's literally the first time I heard someone refer to GNOME 2 as slow/unbearable.

From a LiveCD churning the CD? Yeah it wasn't pleasant.

Gnome 2 has always been considered "heavy weight" and "bloated". Just because you now have Gnome 3 which is all together much shitter and slower; this doesn't detract from the heavyness from Gnome 2.

I am beginning to think that I desire more response and performance from GUIs than most other users .

[Grogan]

Dan, THIS Knoppix is available to the public. (The previous one, 8.5, was a Linux Magazine exclusive)

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html

It's a bit confusing as after you click a mirror link, the next page you'll get with forward and back buttons is in German but if you click the button " >>Akzeptieren>>" it will proceed to your mirror. Some of the mirrors are old, and don't have the latest versions, but this one does and seems to work well for me.

http://mirrors.sonic.net/knoppix/knoppix-dvd/