Posting from Linux!

Yay!

Knoppix is kind of like Linux frozen in time. It skips all the nasty set up details, which, depending on which distro you use and your hardware can get really bad. It also skips the whole program installation and systems maintenance thing, which again can be really nasty depending on which distro you have and what you're doing.

Think of Knoppix like a billboard. It's really really nice, and it's not an outright lie. The actual product, however, may or may not be the same.

[edited by - Promit on January 26, 2004 9:05:58 PM]

You''re getting a fair taste of Linux - to a point.

You must install Linux and start compiling your own programs from source, or compiling your own kernel, or tweaking your box to truly get the Linux experience.

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Knoppix is kind-of sluggish since it''s normally run from a CD (not to mention that most of the CD''s contents are heavily compressed). Knoppix is a (mostly stock, last time I checked) KDE desktop based on Debian Sid. The other "big name" in desktop environments in GNOME (you can download a Knoppix-based Morphix bootable CD that can show you GNOME, if you''d like). Then there''s all the window managers that aren''t there own entire development platforms (Xfce, Fluxbox, Openbox, Enlightenment, Window Maker, IceWM, Fvwm, Twm, et cetera). KDE and/or GNOME are what the mainstream distributions present you with by default and are probably the most familiar to users imprinted with Windows and to a lesser extent MacOS. Since Knoppix includes so many applications you can get a feel for much of what''s out there, but obviously not everything.

Knoppix, being booted from a CD, has a somewhat strange and loose default security setup (aimed very much at a single user system). But, if you''re new to *nix, that''s nothing you''re going to be worrying about. Likewise, I don''t know how much lower level stuff and configuration utilities are included with Knoppix (besides the normal maintenance tools), but I doubt you care for now.

Of course, in the future, you can have Knoppix install itself to a HDD to be used "normally" much like an automatically setup Debian Sid if you''d like. Afterward you can update it and keep it up-to-date with apt-get. You should probably read the instructions on how to do an installation if you ever choose to (can''t give you any personal advice on that).