What would you use if Porteus was not available?

[Tonio]

@ Tonio »
You're right that there are currently alternatives but from the perspective of your average point and click users migrating from windows then the options are rather difficult when your used to single click installs.

For these special users there's TRUEOS formerly PCBSD which is like ubuntu but for BSD There is also ArchBSD a variant which is like Arch linux but with a BSD kernel. There is a version like Ubuntu as well but with FreeBSD kernel. Also there is GhostBSD which is a livedvd with Mate, Xfce or other DE available. There are plenty of fish in the sea One possible downside, the graphics and hardware support may be a little bit behind linux

[francois]

the graphics and hardware support may be a little bit behind linux

At least with ubuntu, the pasture is wide.

[Evan]

the graphics and hardware support may be a little bit behind linux

They claimed a few years back that Intel GPU along with Vulkan drivers would close the gap between Windows and Linux , well that all went very quiet.

Though i don't suppose it's any surprise.

[Evan]

@fulalas

Lightweight Linux distribution

A few more that i've never heard of , Elive , GoboLinux , LinuxBBQ

LinuxBBQ – I mean seriously where do they come up with these names , it's hard to take them serious?

[anajames]

@fulalas

Lightweight Linux distribution

A few more that i've never heard of , Elive , GoboLinux , LinuxBBQ

LinuxBBQ – I mean seriously where do they come up with these names , it's hard to take them serious?

Interesting share, quite detailed.

[Evan]

https://www.linux-live.org

Linux Live Kit is a set of shell scripts which allows you to create your own Live Linux from an already installed Linux distribution. The Live system you create will be bootable from CD-ROM or a disk device, for example USB Flash Drive.

When i get some spare time i'm going to do a full slackware install and try the above script.

[Bogomips]

^ After reading carefully though all the info provided, looks like a bit of a headache. Not so tempted to try.

[Evan]

Having just read that you need to patch the Kernel for Aufs i'm no longer tempted either.

Apparently it works out of the box for Ubuntu based distro's so i might have a play with one of those instead.

[Evan]

http://bear.alienbase.nl/cgit/liveslak/ ... re_live.sh

Alien Bob has his own script for creating a slackware live disk though i get the impression it's for creating your own generic image that you then customise with modules rather than taking a hardisk snapshot and converting it to a live disk like linux-live.org

[fulalas]

@Evan, after playing around with so many distros and minimalist stuff, I'm convinced that Porteus is really our best option. Take AlienBob mini, for example. It takes around 50 MB and comes with almost nothing. You would spend a looot of time to put some DE to work over it, and in the end you would have something with same the size as Porteus, or even bigger... Let's take another example: AlienBob Live + Xfce. It takes 700 MB! I could shrink it to 520 MB, but still... Can't you see?

I also tried the Minimal Linux Live. First, I couldn't build my own kernel module using the scripts -- although it compiles, the system doesn't work well with it. Second, the amount of effort to put some DE is insane, since it comes with really nothing except the minimal to give you a console prompt, hahaha! And then finally the RAM consumption: it simply doesn't beat Porteus by that much! Something like 60 MB (mininal) vs 85 MB (Porteus). Ah! And the boot time is worse than Porteus!

If you're willing to build a smaller Linux than Porteus, I suggest removing the packages you don't use that comes with Porteus. For example: Mesa drivers for all other graphics card except the one you have. And so on. Take a look at /var/log/packages

[Evan]

Size is no big deal on modern hardware as i have a 1.6gb Mint ISO that i made with Refracta tools for a full fat live desktop and apart from it taking an extra 20 seconds to boot everything else unpacks and loads exactly the same as is does with Porteus , Clicking FireFox In Mint Custom Live is the same as it is Porteus so i can't think of any reason why i would want to get to the desktop 20 seconds faster , The 1.6GB iso unpacks so fast you can hear the USB drive data making a singing noise through the USB bus.

300Mb loaded into 4gb of ram on old hardware or 1.6Gb loaded into 16gb of ram on new hardware , what difference does it make as ram is there to be used.

This isn't about trying to find something better than Portues it's just what would be people use as their second choice.

[fulalas]

I see. I agree that RAM/disk space is there to be used. Although I question the need of such large distros, I feel (and it's also measurable) that sometimes these fancy new stuff simply doesn't delivery the same performance as I expect. Take Mate DE, for example. It's cool in many aspects, but the performance -- especially the render -- is no that good. KDE is even heavier.

But what exactly you look for when testing a second option? In other words, as matter of pure curiosity, what fats Linux like Mint provide of extras when compared to Porteus?

[Evan]

as matter of pure curiosity, what fats Linux like Mint provide of extras when compared to Porteus?

If i went through the entire list it would sound like i was a Porteus Hater when i'm not.

A couple of things that come to mind

Modern Linux desktops like Mint / Ubuntu look better on High DPI including more usage of GTK3 themes instead of GTK2,Easy point and click setup ,Fully working Nvidia drivers and applications without bollocking about with symlinks and such and having to compile them you just choose the option from a driver list , fully working Intel micro codes , fully working kernel that includes things like Apparmor for sandboxing , most websites have an Ubuntu / Mint install file so all you have to do is click install, on the rare occasion you use command line it's for adding a PPA then it sets itself up , Fairly recent up-to-date apps in the repository , a fuller list and faster releases of security patches.

I agree with you about Mate , i liked it when i first tried it but now it's just rough.

[Tonio]

Tomas Matejicek, creator of Slax and linux live kit, one that creates a copy of your system now recommends Debian Linux. So possible future versions have Debian as base[ok with systemd], Devuan[no systemd], any other friendly version of linux out there that requires few clicks to get a desktop to your likings! What will happen now?

[Evan]

Doesn't surprise me to be honest as Alien Bob has no interest in stripping down slackware for his Live Disks , just use it as intended without wasting all your time repairing the very thing you have just broken.

If Brokenman was to ever announce a full fat version of Porteus we might have to keep fulalas under 24 hour surveillance with heavy medication.