MEPIS is very good at providing a clean, easy-to-use, graphic
environment for new-to-linux users, or for more experienced users who
want a simple desktop system that "just works". If you're looking for a
system rescue CD, there are several options that work quite well:
1) SystemRescueCd (http://www.sysresccd.org/), as previously mentioned
is specifically designed for the task.
2) Slax (http://slax.linux-live.org/) is an excellent small (Pocket CD)
distribution based on Slackware, it's good
for those who prefer a command-line interface, but still want the
system to have some of the extras, besides
it does a great job of automounting existing drives in the system,
something that can be very helpful when trying
to recover or restore a damaged system.
3) D*** Small Linux (http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/) is designed to fit
on a 50M "business card" CD, and works
great as a "always on hand" Linux system (you can get this
pre-installed on a 128M USB pen drive too, too cool)
If you're more interested in a general Live CD for exploring or using
Linux, here are some other options I've tried and liked.
1) Knoppix (http://www.knoppix.net/) is the most popular Live CD, and
works very well as both a "system on CD" and
as a Rescue CD. This is a good CD to have handy at home or work,
because it has some of the widest support,
is available in a DVD version with tons of stuff loaded in, and has
tools to deal with just about anything already
loaded.
2) SimplyMEPIS (http://www.mepis.org/book/view/1462) is, as noted
previously, a distribution for exploring Linux, and is
most appropriate for users who want the system to "just work". It
includes a number of drivers and other components
that are not "free as in speech", but are still "free as in beer".
3) Sentry Firewall CD (http://www.sentryfirewall.com/) is a complete
secure Firewall/IDS system on Live Linux CD,
Good for setting up a firewall using spare hardware. This will
even run on systems with no HD, making the firewall
system even more secure. Security settings can be stored to a
floppy, allowing for a full restore to previous state on
reboot.
4) GISIX (http://www.geomancers.net/gisix.html) is a complete GIS system
on live CD,
great for convincing local governments to look at Linux.
5) SourcePole GIS-Knoppix
(http://www.sourcepole.com/sources/software/gis-knoppix/) is another GIS
system on live CD,
also good for convincing government bureaucrats.
6) Puppy Linux (http://www.goosee.com/puppy/) is intended to bring older
systems to full use,
and is great for salvaging that old boat-anchor in the garage for
the kids to use.
vodhner@cox.net wrote:
>I just burnt a MEPIS CD for rescue purposes and have had the
>following problems:
>
>
>
> 1. It can't grok my weird S3 video card, so I'm stuck at low rez.
> I have to get rid of that board, but I'm just out of money.
> Anyone got a nice vanilla SVGA card, PCI or AGP, that I could
> buy off you cheap? I'm not a gamer, so 3D and display speed are
> not very important; but I do like 1200+ resolution.
> I live at Thunderbird and SR51, and work at Raintree & 101 (Pima).
>
> 2. It can't open my network: VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adaptor.
>
> 3. I can't see how to just get to a command prompt so I can
> rearrange my partitions in prep for an install. (Does a nice
> job of presenting all the drives though, including my NTFS
> partition.)
>
> 4. OK, so what I really need is a nice rescue disk that will put
> me in command at a root prompt. Don't need no stinkin GUI.
> Would like a whole bunch of the usual command-line tools,
> including parted and filesystem building tools.
> Oh: and even maybe some man pages for those things? ;-)
>
> Yeah, I've got my XP pretty well settled down, but I don't
> like it very much. And I *hate* that all my old apps are
> broken because the old registry is invalid. Microsoft totally
> lost their mind when they went with that monolithic registry.
> So I'm eager now to build a new Linux environment (replacing
> my Red Hat 8) and start doing more of my work there.
>
> I set up Thunderbird and Firefox to keep their stuff on
> a Fat32 partition where I can share it from Linux.
> That will be a major step towards letting me stay in Linux,
> since I often had to switch back to Windows just to use
> my mailbox and bookmarks there.
>
> BTW, the CD I just made is SimplyMEPIS-2004.06. I'm also
> interested in recommendations for other live CDs I should
> try as I move towards my new setup. I'll have room to
> set up several distros, and I have become a Grub wizard.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Vic
>
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