Newsgroups: gmane.linux.debian.user Date: 2006-07-08
Newsgroups: gmane.linux.debian.user Date: 2006-07-08
I just found Grml about 2 weeks ago, as a Debian based Live CD. And now I'm ready to give up my stable Sarge and go for Grml! It is going to be my Live CD as well as desktop OS. I highly recommend it.
If you want details, Mark Gjerde has written a good article on March 07, 2006. Check it out at
Below are some interesting quotes:
My favorite discovery of last year was GRML Linux. You won't find this gem in the top 100 at Distrowatch, but if you ask me, it works better than all the usual names.
GRML says it's for "users of texttools and system administrators," but GRML actually offers more. It's Linux that "just works." My users are not geeks, but GRML makes all our lives easy.
Think of GRML as desktop-agnostic Debian with Knoppix-style hardware detection. GRML uses the latest Linux kernel. GRML doesn't violate Debian standards the way Knoppix and Ubuntu do, and compared to Knoppix, it has a less extreme focus on the CD format. Knoppix is hard-wired for CD and tricky to configure on much else.
GRML is clean and fast. On my fastest machine, booting an Ubuntu live CD took seven times longer than GRML CD. And Ubuntu removes hardware detection from disk installations; GRML leaves it in place.
Finally, the GRML development team is sized just right for its mission. It's not a one-man show like some other distributions, nor a giant committee meeting.
Much more interesting info has been left out. Check out the rest at above url.
Disclaim: I have no affiliation with Grml what so ever, I just want to share my joy of using it with you. Moreover, the support has been great, at least so far.
T
Newsgroups: gmane.linux.debian.user Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:20:59 +0200
On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 12:22:14 -0400, Stephen Yorke wrote:
> Jabka Atu wrote: >> I'm searching for real debian live, >> I'm familer with distrowatch but i couldnot find one that will be >> deb >> and not some spinoff . >> the reason is that i need it to be easy to do apt-get upgrade >> dist-upgrade to spesific version after instalation .
grml. check out grml.org
> From: Russell Ost [mailto:russell.ost@netliving.com] Sent: Fri 9/22/2006 > live.debian.net is what > you are looking for. It has pre-build iso's, and the application to > build your own.
> I tried the >> MAKE-LIVE scripts and found them hard to > configure and the documentation isn't that great. > > I have been trying to create live CD's for the past 3 weeks now and the > past week when I DEBOOTSTRAP SID I get locale issues...go figure. > > Just get a Morphix or Knoppix Base and look at their guide(s) on > remastering. Both are worthy although I went with Morphix.
If you want to learn how things work under the hood, go why above. If you want to avoid trouble as much as possible, go with grml.
I've been finding/watching/trying different LIVE CDs (preferable Debian based) for a long time, and have tried all above.
I've now stopped finding because I think I've found the best one so far — grml. check out grml.org. It is now pure Debian based. It's a live CD, but you can apt-get to install your package too in live CD environment.
You can also get a working pure Debian system on HD within minutes. By "pure Debian system", I mean everything is actually Debian in grml. You can start install/customize right away after the installation. I'm using Debian Testing now, which was its HD installation.
check out the rest at my old post:
T
> grml!!! check out grml.org
Hey T. I endorse everything T has to say here. I'd also mention it's Debian Sid based, and Grml tests Sid stuff before it goes into Grml. They've an excellent mailing list for support. Grml is designed for admins, not newbies, with lots of character based apps admins would expect to find. X (grml) is not gnome or KDE. Being Debian, those are, of course, apt-get-able once running.
There's grml and grml-small, both are full Debian Sid, both are live CDs. Cool distro.
keeling
Newsgroups: gmane.linux.debian.user Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2006 16:26:21 +0200
On Wed, 06 Sep 2006 10:28:08 -0400, Stephen Yorke wrote:
> 1. Creating a LIVE CD with Debian Testing ... > > ... Debian LIVECD ... Ok...give up on iBuild.... > > Second, I have been playing with the Morphix Tools... build it is > empty...
Others have suggested Knopsis & dfsbuild.
I've been finding/watching/trying different LIVE CDs (preferable Debian based) for a long time, and have tried all above.
I've now stopped finding because I think I've found the best one so far — grml. check out grml.org. It derived from Knopsis, but is now pure Debian based. It's a live CD, but you can also get a working pure Debian system on HD within minutes. I'm using Debian Testing now, which was its HD installation.
check out the rest at my old post:
T
Newsgroups: gmane.linux.debian.user Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2006 22:42:20 +0200
>>simple, tar it up (the whole root fs) and untar in real pc environment. >> >>mind you, you need to re-configure all the devices before you can make >>the vmware copy fully working in your real pc environment.
> thanks for all the suggestion! I know the tool dd and tar . > what I really ask for help is : how to re-configure all the devices? > And, I have got a knoppix system on my box! Is there some help to use > the configs of the knoppix ?
I don't know what version of knoppix you are using, but be ready, it won't be too easy.
Actually, if you are familiar with knoppix, I'd recommend grml, because I think it's the best Live CD for me so far. check out grml.org. It derived from Knoppix, but is now pure Debian based, thus far better than Knoppix to me. It's a live CD, but you can also get a working pure Debian system on HD within minutes. I'm using Debian Testing now, which was its HD installation. With the help of grml, you only need to care about your root fs, all the rest, devices & configurations are taken care of by grml automatically.
check out the rest at my old post at:
T
Newsgroups: gmane.linux.debian.ports.amd64,gmane.linux.debian.user Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:31:49 +0200
> I want a bootable USB stick that will boot any machine that allows me to > boot from USB: a Debian Live USB (and not CD). ... > > Is it actually possible to create an USB rescue/boot disk that contains > a Debian Etch AMD64 or i386 based installation? Is there an image > available somewhere?
When talking about rescue Live CD, IMHO, nothing comes close to grml (grml.org).
What's more exciting is that it also come with an 55M alternative iso, which is ideal for a Live USB. It is a pure Debian 386 based Live system that will boot any machine that allows booting usb.
The root fs is read only, so it should be usb friendly.
T
Title: My desktop OS: GRML Date: 2006.03.07 11:01 Author: Mark Gjerde Topic: http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/02/22/2221258[]
The best discoveries emerge from obscurity. My favorite discovery of last year was GRML Linux. You won't find this gem in the top 100 at Distrowatch, but if you ask me, it works better than all the usual names.
GRML says it's for "users of texttools and system administrators," but GRML actually offers more. It's Linux that "just works." My users are not geeks, but GRML makes all our lives easy.
Think of GRML as desktop-agnostic Debian with Knoppix-style hardware detection. GRML uses the latest Linux kernel. GRML doesn't violate Debian standards the way Knoppix and Ubuntu do, and compared to Knoppix, it has a less extreme focus on the CD format. Knoppix is hard-wired for CD and tricky to configure on much else. GRML supports many Knoppix cheatcodes, but boots from any device that your BIOS supports (and soon all the rest via chainboot). A nice script called grml2hd does hard drive installation. It creates a standard Debian Linux system with hardware autodetection.
Many distributions fork over desktop environments: Ubuntu/Kubuntu, Knoppix/Gnoppix. GRML doesn't ship GNOME or KDE, but contrary to popular belief, desktop agnosticism is a blessing. It's still easy to put a desktop on GRML. Debian package management is your friend. GNOME, for instance, installs with one command: apt-get install gnome-desktop-environment (include -t experimental for the very latest GNOME release).
Agnosticism means something else. GRML development stays focused on kernel and driver issues. There's no wasted effort on desktop design; GRML leaves that job to desktop developers. However, the basic infrastructure is there; GRML ships lightweight window managers like Fluxbox, and offers X11 configuration.
Still, why select "Linux for sysadmins" for desktop use? Well, think about personal data mobility. Some users don't like to have their personal data tied to one PC. They want data on the road, at conventions, between work, home, and school, at a friend's house, and at client work sites. They want their personal desktop wherever possible. Many productivity factors roll into desktop configuration — hotkeys, menus, icons, applications, Internet settings, folder trees — and these are lost when you borrow a machine.
One obvious solution is a laptop computer. Laptops are expensive, fragile, heavy, power-hungry, and more awkward than stock PCs. Laptop screens and keyboards are smaller. They lack ports and expansion options. Sometimes they suffer driver problems. They take extra desk space. They need to be synchronized with stationary desktop PCs.
Another solution is to put data on the Web. Web-based email is simple enough. Still, it's hard to create a Web-based "personal desktop" with your application programs, application files, OS settings, and icons — and forget about privacy if your data lives online.
The live CD approach can work. GRML is a live CD. All live CDs have one basic problem, though — they're read-only, so you can't customize them. In theory, you could burn a customized version with personal desktop and applications. That task is unpleasant, tedious, and would have to be repeated if you made the smallest change.
A live CD with a "persistent home" is closer to ideal. A persistent home is a read/write directory on a hard drive that works in tandem with a live CD. GRML supports this technique. However, it presents problems to the mobile user. Where exactly do you keep your persistent home? You must somehow carry it on your person, along with the live CD. You could use a USB device, but if you're going to carry a USB device, why not boot from that?
A bootable USB device is the ultimate mobility solution. These devices are cheap, small, and lightweight. GRML offers a small version specifically for flash memory sticks. Flash sticks are cute, and have valid uses. However, at today's price/performance levels, they don't support mobile users very well. They are too cramped. They can barely boot a desktop Linux, leaving little room for applications or data, and forget about MP3 files.
A compact, rugged, USB hard drive suits mobile users far better. It can hold an entire Linux system. USB hard drives overwhelmingly beat flash memory sticks whether you compare price per megabyte, read/write speeds, media lifespan, data capacity, or almost any other metric. At present, the only metric favoring flash is physical ruggedness, but you can obtain ruggedness in a cheap USB hard drive. It won't endure extreme abuse like a fob, but it will outperform flash in every other way. So the tradeoff is reasonable unless you drive trucks over your boot device. A hard drive gives plenty of room and speed in a portable format that can be reasonably rugged. USB drives are much less cumbersome than laptops and fit in the palm of your hand.
So much for hardware. What about software? The drive must boot on any available PC, so it cannot know the PC hardware in advance. Here GRML's automatic hardware configuration shines. Linux advocates do not promote this aspect of Linux nearly enough. Windows just can't do it. Driver setup is the most common support issue. GRML does it automatically. You run grml2hd and reboot. Voila, the USB drive can boot practically any PC in 90 seconds. Configure and tweak your mobile Linux any way you please. It's just Debian, after all. You will see your changes the next time you boot, no matter whose PC you use.
Automatic hardware detection helps even on one PC. Sysadmins constantly swap expansion cards in and out of test units. GRML can auto-configure no matter what changes you make.
GRML is clean and fast. On my fastest machine, booting an Ubuntu live CD took seven times longer than GRML CD. And Ubuntu removes hardware detection from disk installations; GRML leaves it in place.
Finally, the GRML development team is sized just right for its mission. It's not a one-man show like some other distributions, nor a giant committee meeting.
My interest is in satisfying users with nice, cheap, portable desktops running standard, open source, Debian Linux. GRML has been a big hit for us.