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Linux On A Stick: Fedora 9 Puts Your Desktop on a USB Drive
lifehacker.com — This week's release of Fedora 9 makes carrying a full-fledged Linux desktop around on a USB drive a three-click affair. Even better, you don't need Linux installed to create it, you can leave the data on your thumb drive untouched, and any files you create or settings you tweak remain in place the next time you boot up.
mklopez- 1373 diggs
- digg it
- ani625, on 05/17/2008, -2/+42Where can i get the usb drive which is shown there. Looks sweet
.- superbryant, on 05/17/2008, -4/+1haha Thats the first thing I thought as well!
- j2sol, on 05/17/2008, -4/+7It's a mock up sadly, we do not yet have Fedora branded USB keys.
- sikofitt, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4That'd be way cool to have a usb drive that looked like that.
- cjflashman, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4Reminded me of the Mandriva flash drive.
- AlaskaLoneWolf, on 05/17/2008, -4/+1I want one. Bad.
- gjessup, on 05/17/2008, -9/+4Sweet
- superprad, on 05/17/2008, -3/+18sleek!! fedora 9 ROCKS!!
- Youssif, on 05/17/2008, -5/+16Fedora is the best distro to work with and know linux in near, for people who want to know Linux, not just use it as an OS, Fedora simply is the best option. Furthermore, Fedora is Red Hat base, so if you are looking to be a Linux administrator, Fedora is your best option to get your hands in RHEL in no time. Thank you Fedora Devs for making our life easier and keeping things 100% free!.
- zwaldowski, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2I like Fedora, I really do. But its package management is so incredibly slow that I couldn't even stand to download the 14 initial updates I had after I just installed.
- zach382, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Supposedly in Fedora 9 one of the big new features is faster package management with packagekit.
- zwaldowski, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2It's not true, I just spent two hours trying to download 14 minor updates before writing that comment.
- zach382, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Supposedly in Fedora 9 one of the big new features is faster package management with packagekit.
- zwaldowski, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2I like Fedora, I really do. But its package management is so incredibly slow that I couldn't even stand to download the 14 initial updates I had after I just installed.
- Tiler, on 05/17/2008, -0/+10Just installed it on my 8gb Corsair that I bought specifically for a Ubuntu bootable. This entire process was as easy as advertised. The boot was quick and OS was fast. Gotta love Gnome!
- sparrowkc, on 05/17/2008, -4/+10I'm just going to go ahead and be that Ubuntu fanboy who won't shut up...
You can do the same thing with Ubuntu, booting off the livecd;
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2008/05/08/usb-ubuntu ...- desuexmachina, on 05/17/2008, -4/+7Yeap, you certainly know how to count. I am impressed, 22 commandline steps is just like three GUI steps.
- sparrowkc, on 05/18/2008, -0/+4I don't understand why you added something about counting steps to your retort. You could have just as easily said that the main advantage to the Fedora option is the nice gui and provided a valid counterpoint, but you tried to turn it into an insult.
- paulringo, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4Yea 22 steps and a bunch of time later..... As soon as Ubuntu codes a simple application for the masses, I will use that, otherwise well done Fedora.
- init100, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3"As soon as Ubuntu codes a simple application for the masses, I will use that"
Because it has to be Ubuntu, staying with Fedora is not an option?
- init100, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3"As soon as Ubuntu codes a simple application for the masses, I will use that"
- Tiler, on 05/19/2008, -1/+1Sparrowkc, I'm digging your comment but at a quick glance, I just couldn't find an appreciable difference between Fedora and Ubuntu. Granted, I didn't go nuts installing stuff either. If you're already invested in Ubuntu, like me, keep it. For the newbie (also like me) who's looking for a quick way to test a MS alternative, this little app rocks!
- desuexmachina, on 05/17/2008, -4/+7Yeap, you certainly know how to count. I am impressed, 22 commandline steps is just like three GUI steps.
- sparrowkc, on 05/17/2008, -4/+10I'm just going to go ahead and be that Ubuntu fanboy who won't shut up...
- brettalton, on 05/17/2008, -4/+94 GB install DVD to a fully functional 2GB USB key? Amazing.
- sparrowkc, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3SquashFS FTW
- DonSlice, on 05/17/2008, -0/+64GB install? What did you download? Mine was only 670mb.
- P373Y, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4did you get the live cd, or the full dvd?
- prophetpimp, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4full DVD also contain additional repositories that you might otherwise need internet access to install. So a Install CD is the vfull version, Its just that the DVD version has additional mostly non essential stuff on it.
- P373Y, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4did you get the live cd, or the full dvd?
- Kingoftherings, on 05/17/2008, -0/+33Awesome, this is perfect for me, because I hate burning a CD I'll only use once.
- UltramegaOK, on 05/17/2008, -12/+27On a stick?
OM NOM NOM NOM - buffyangel108, on 05/17/2008, -3/+19Yeah, but you'll be able to do this with Vista too... just as soon as those 64GB USB sticks hit the market.
- cjflashman, on 05/17/2008, -0/+17Not yet, But we're already hitting the 32GB flash drive mark (for 130 after rebate. I remember paying 120 for my good ol' 512MB drive)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8 ... - argylesocks, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5Hmm... are you sure? Would windows distribute a live version?.... No. And if they don't it certainly wouldn't be legal to obtain one or make your own.... making this inconvenient to say the least.
- DeathfireD, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4You can probably fit windows 98 on a USB stick though.
- casual7y, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1or xp on a 4gb stick
- cjflashman, on 05/17/2008, -0/+17Not yet, But we're already hitting the 32GB flash drive mark (for 130 after rebate. I remember paying 120 for my good ol' 512MB drive)
- ravan46, on 05/17/2008, -6/+6Slax looks a bit better. It runs the entire OS from ram so is super super fast. But the package manager for it is meh.
- Dumbledorito, on 05/17/2008, -1/+22On a steeek?
- DonSlice, on 05/17/2008, -4/+3I KILL YOU!
- OmniShinzui, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I'll have whatever he's having, but ill have A1 on mine.
- sigmaman2, on 05/17/2008, -1/+11I'm an Ubuntu guy, and I'm used to Gnome, but this just might make me switch...
- sparrowkc, on 05/17/2008, -4/+5http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2008/05/08/usb-ubuntu ...
Same thing minus Gui and windows support. You can do the whole thing while booting off the Ubuntu disk, so you still don't need a Linux install.- javaroast, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6You've thrown this out there twice. It's not the same thing, the news here is the ease of use and the neat GUI. Can't you just admit that this is pretty cool and has a nice little GUI to boot. By all means show the link for pendrive, but do it with out the fanboy fervor, the multiple posts and the comments like nothing new here.
This is an neat GUI easy way to make a Pen Drive linux distro, realistically it can probably be ported into a Ubuntu version as well. But the GUI of this is what many people are looking for. It's good for all linux- init100, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4"Can't you just admit that this is pretty cool and has a nice little GUI to boot."
Ubuntu fanboys can never admit that another distribution does something cool, or that another distribution might actually have even just one aspect in which it is more newbie-friendly than Ubuntu.
- init100, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4"Can't you just admit that this is pretty cool and has a nice little GUI to boot."
- javaroast, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6You've thrown this out there twice. It's not the same thing, the news here is the ease of use and the neat GUI. Can't you just admit that this is pretty cool and has a nice little GUI to boot. By all means show the link for pendrive, but do it with out the fanboy fervor, the multiple posts and the comments like nothing new here.
- waspbr, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2Ubuntu user myself, I find it handy myself to have two linux partitions/ distros at one hard drive at all times, this gives me some extra safety to play with one, so if I break something, I can just log on to the other partition and edit whatever I need to, so yeah, go for it.
- anshuman, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3Switchhhhh Switchhhhh Switchhhh!!!!!!
:P
- sparrowkc, on 05/17/2008, -4/+5http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2008/05/08/usb-ubuntu ...
- sparrowkc, on 05/17/2008, -3/+6Isn't this just persistence?
Edit: Yes. Yes it is. Aside from the nice windows gui, there is nothing new here.- polywaffle, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5Well the windows gui IS the news...
- stickster, on 05/17/2008, -0/+0It's not just persistence, it's also non-destructive. You don't have to reformat, repartition, back up data from the thumb drive, etc.
- erikmarcus, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3Anyone have this sort of experience using a Linux thumb drive on a Mac? Any recommendations?
- str1fe, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2I was looking for a guide on how to do exactly this earlier. I'll definitely be utilizing this for my first successful (hopefully) foray into Linux.
Also, I haven't really found any good, unbiased, side-by-sides for KDE vs. GNOME that outlines the pros and cons of each. Surely Digg can help me out here?- docsarvis, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3KDE is a little bloatier and slower, but offers more customization and generally considered better for power users. Gnome is more lightweight and simplistic (if not frustratingly so for many users) so is good for beginners. KDE is sometimes considered more Windows-ish while Gnome more MacOSish (OSX or Classic), though of course either can resemble either of those UIs I only mean in customization level.
Honestly though I'd just pick one and try it out. They aren't mutually exclusive, if you want to try another it's a good thing to learn how to set up the other desktop environment. Likely you'll find though that the differences aren't that significant, especially since you can run K apps in Gnome and Gnome apps in KDE.
Personally I like minimalist desktop environments so I've always used Windowmaker, Blackbox and now xfce. But they're all really damn good and worth using.- str1fe, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I've always been a minimalist too - I can't even tolerate icons on my desktop. I have everything on my Windows computer confined to an OSX-style dock. I would like to try something like Fluxbox in the future but I want to start with something more basic and get closer to what I want in the future.
- hassmaschine, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3Nice summary above, historically he is correct, kde is easier and bloatier, now since about fedora 6 or 7 it's been lighter, and near gnome in it's overhead... personally, you'll find gnome in more places than not, most people that are kde fans are people that switched from windows, which is fine, but I prefer the customization of gnome and the ease of use... of course I run fluxbox but thats not exactly the friendly mans desktop manager, but I still run some gnome daemons in the bg to control my fonts and gnome-terminals... you should try out both and see what they do for you, but if I was given only a choice of the two, gnome wins hands down (even if k3b is one of the best apps out there).
- WayOfTheIronPaw, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3I'm a software developer by trade. I prefer Linux to Windows, although I've developed for both, and most of my development work has been desktop software (as opposed to web sites or embedded, for example). I've been using Linux for 13 years.
I prefer Gnome to KDE because it is simpler. KDE definitely gives you options. One look at the KDE file manager shows that. But I find all of that added functionality to be daunting. Gnome has a much smaller learning curve.
- docsarvis, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3KDE is a little bloatier and slower, but offers more customization and generally considered better for power users. Gnome is more lightweight and simplistic (if not frustratingly so for many users) so is good for beginners. KDE is sometimes considered more Windows-ish while Gnome more MacOSish (OSX or Classic), though of course either can resemble either of those UIs I only mean in customization level.
- scilec, on 05/17/2008, -1/+16Before you rush off to install Fedora 9, you should be aware that Nvidia has not yet released a driver that's compatible with the new version of Xorg included by default. The only workarounds I'm aware of right now are either downgrading Xorg, installing a beta Nvidia driver, or installing a different driver altogether that doesn't provide 3d support.
While I'm sure this will be resolved soon, don't expect any desktop effects (yet) in Fedora 9 unless you're willing to do a little work first.- StealthTomato, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Exactly. I installed Fedora 9 over top of Ubuntu and switched back IMMEDIATELY due to this issue. I may use Fedora in the future, but only after this has been sorted.
(Also, a separate /home/ partition is the handiest thing ever for distro-switching.)- xenocoder, on 05/17/2008, -0/+0I got bit by this (as I didn't read around first) when I was playing with the release candidate and ended up with no screen (system-config-display to the resuce!). For me personally though I still preferred the overall feel of Fedora with no effects yet than Hardy Heron with effects. Just a personal preference...
- StealthTomato, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1Yeah, but I can't stay in 800x600land forever, especially not with two monitors.
- StealthTomato, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Exactly. I installed Fedora 9 over top of Ubuntu and switched back IMMEDIATELY due to this issue. I may use Fedora in the future, but only after this has been sorted.
- Adam420, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Oh cool, im gonna try this out!
- NJank, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3I tried several flavors of linux on usb, including DSL, and whatever the not quite as DSL is called. Took me forever to realize that for one reason or another, I just wasn't going to be able to get my laptop to boot from a USB flash drive. Something about the Mobo's BIOS USB implementation? ahh well. (and this was with a Dell latitude d610)
- RadiatedAnt, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4I'm perplexed, ubuntu or fedora?! im about to download a distro now and I don't know which one ohh the agony!
- sparrowkc, on 05/17/2008, -2/+4Flip a coin, download the loser tomorrow. It's the weekend!
- DonSlice, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3I've been using Ubuntu for a few months now and just got Fedora for my USB stick. Ubuntu loads off the HDD and Fedora off the... Well, USB.
My verdict is to get Fedora. Firefox is more responsive, Flash videos didn't tear like they did in Ubuntu, and it just has a better feel to it overall.- dangodango, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2If you're new to Linux then Ubuntu might be easier out of the box.
But F9 IMHO is easier out of the box then F8
- dangodango, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2If you're new to Linux then Ubuntu might be easier out of the box.
- docsarvis, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Try both with LiveCDs and test them out, and just see which one you like better. You could also install Ubuntu through Wubi (which is like putting Linux in a Windows file), that way you can easily install and uninstall from within Windows with only a minor hit to performance under Linux. Wubi functions like a real install so you can set up your hardware and whatever.
- zwaldowski, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4Ubuntu. Fedora is unbearably slow in the package management; otherwise it has a lot of stability over Ubuntu.
- Woknblues, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3get 'em both dude. they are free...
- WayOfTheIronPaw, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2If you've got an NVidia card, then you might want to hold off on Fedora 9 for a while, until NVidia releases a version of their driver that does 3-D with the version of X.org in Fedora 9. Currently I'm on Fedora 8, and I'm staying there until the NVidia drivers are sorted out.
- rohan1234, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4Ubuntu, and if you ever want a USB instal then get Fedora for that.
- RadiatedAnt, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1sadly ubuntu ruined my partitions Im on a striped fakeraid and I guess its a no go.
- FUR10N, on 05/17/2008, -1/+7and the second you boot a school computer to this fancy demon stick no more using the school computers for you
- Elderon, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3assuming they don't just disable booting from USB. Most school networks I've worked on the schools had the computers locked down pretty good in that regard. no booting from anything but the main hard disk (assuming it wasn't just a thin client).
- Zaneris, on 05/17/2008, -6/+21Unrelated, but Firefox 3 RC1 is out!
http://digg.com/software/Firefox_3_RC1_Released - ssn697, on 05/17/2008, -1/+7Wow, 1GB? It makes all those DOS boot disks look silly.
/couldn't help myself - AzureRise, on 05/17/2008, -6/+2This is great and all, but I've already been doing this for years. Just go here http://www.pendrivelinux.com/ and follow the instructions for your favorite distro. You pretty much just copy the contents to your flash drive and run a batch file. Although I'll admit making it persistent (so you can save your work and settings) is a bit more difficult. Well, at least it was I haven't checked the site in like a year.
edit: Just checked the site and it's extremely easy for a full blown Ubuntu install, although you'll need a larger flash drive.
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2008/04/14/ubuntu-804 ...- stickster, on 05/17/2008, -0/+0The difference is that this is non-destructive. You don't have to blow away your current thumb drive contents to do it, and you don't need to do a real installation. You write an ISO image to the disk, and make an overlay for your extra data. Done.
- newwatch51, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1The standard syslinux set up is that way too.
1) Copy over files
2) Install Syslinux
3) Enable boot flag
No formating involved either.
- newwatch51, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1The standard syslinux set up is that way too.
- stickster, on 05/17/2008, -0/+0The difference is that this is non-destructive. You don't have to blow away your current thumb drive contents to do it, and you don't need to do a real installation. You write an ISO image to the disk, and make an overlay for your extra data. Done.
- rasmasyean, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2mispost.
- InuX, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4It was just under 700mb(not by much) on my 2gig flash drive, but boy is it worth it. Other distributions should take note of this.
- Philbert, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2Sucks, my dad just gave me a couple of thumb drives that were given away at his business conventions one is 128MB, too small, the other is a 1GB, great! But it doesn't work most of the time. I have a 4GB of my own, but I use it for Vista ReadyBoost.
- zwaldowski, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4Swap out the 4GB for the 1GB.
- Kamujin, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2If you can get your Vista box over 2GB of RAM, then you won't get much benefit from ReadyBoost anymore.
FWIW, I did the USB Linux thing a while back and just found the performance to be way to slow to tolerate. Dual booting gives the best experience where possible.
(Vista haters, please spare me your crayon responses.) - Buu700, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Just get another gig of RAM. It will be better than ReadyBoost, and RAM is dirt cheap these days.
- Philbert, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1I've already got 4 gigs of RAM in the box.
- Kamujin, on 05/18/2008, -0/+2With 4GB of RAM, you don't need to use ReadyBoost. Its not helping.
Try Fedora on the 4GB stick, or maybe try Ubuntu with wubi.
- newwatch51, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1128 may be too small for Fedora, but it's plenty big for a number of other distros.
- aidwiz, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1better get puppy but this one is worth a try.
- aserer511, on 05/17/2008, -1/+9its ironic when a donation based company, not Apple or Microsoft, are on the forefront of technology
- Kamujin, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3How so? Microsoft has long been criticized for cherry picking other people's good ideas. While just about all of Apple's original ideas are now in the trash bin of history. OS X is a FreeBSD fork, not an Apple invention.
Actually, this is status quo. - raydeen, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3I think it's always been like that. Prime example: id Software. John Carmack and co. pretty much revolutionized the PC gaming scene, whether it was smooth horizontal scrolling in Commander Keen or super fast 2D/3D raycasting in Hovertank/Catacomb Abyss/Wolfenstein 3D.The innovations are usually produced by the tinkerers in the garage, not the white collars in the office.
- Kamujin, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3How so? Microsoft has long been criticized for cherry picking other people's good ideas. While just about all of Apple's original ideas are now in the trash bin of history. OS X is a FreeBSD fork, not an Apple invention.
- l815, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1Wohoo!! Fedora Rocks!
Now it's time for a fedora wubi :P - newsLinux, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Dugg for the USB stick on the picture. I wantz it!
- ftw420, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4I love fedora!
- ftw420, on 05/17/2008, -6/+0I love fedora!
- Stonekeeper, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Does anyone know if there is a fedora ISO remaster tool, like the ones available for Ubuntu? It would be amazing to be able to create a custom ISO before burning it to a pen drive...
- rahulsundaram, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4Yeah. Fedora has the best tools for this
http://www.redhatmagazine.com/2007/05/31/remixing- ... - Stonekeeper, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1just wanted to say thanks. Ideal.
- rahulsundaram, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4Yeah. Fedora has the best tools for this
- rohan1234, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Warning about USB livecds: Make sure your USB stick's volume label has no spaces in it - this seems to cause Fedora to fail to find the persistent data file when it boots.
- lmacken, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I fixed this last night with v2.4.
- rockets, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Fedora 9: Welcome to 2008 !!!!!!!!!!
- anshuman, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2word is , Amazingggg
and BTW, me wants that USB steek, Nowwww :D - ZippyV, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I tried it a couple of days ago and I'm not impressed. The boot time takes much much longer than a live cd. (Tried the x64 version)
- CarzorStelatis, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1That's because a DVD drive connected directly to the motherboard loads data faster than a cheap flash memory chip connected via USB2.
- lmacken, on 05/17/2008, -0/+0One of the past versions had syslinux's "slow and stupid mode" enabled, but this has since been turned off. Try again, it'll most likely be a lot faster :)
- sk11, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3There's been critical digg mass for fedora articles, fedora might just become the next ubuntu.
- raydeen, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2That's a good thing. If RH did something really incredible here, expect it to be replicated in Ubuntu and other distros. Competition and one-ups-manship are good for us. :)
Now to steal my wife's 1 GB flash drive....
- raydeen, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2That's a good thing. If RH did something really incredible here, expect it to be replicated in Ubuntu and other distros. Competition and one-ups-manship are good for us. :)
- MrViklund, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Isn't Lifehacker about hacking your own life?
- brkhobowriter, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2This is pretty awesome. I didn't exactly want to install a Linux distro onto a partition. And Wubi messed my entire computer up...
- hugejimmy, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1sweet
- raydeen, on 05/18/2008, -0/+0Trying it out now. I started with the KDE version but dumped it quite quickly for Gnome (just more familiar there) and I must say this is really nice. Went out and bought a 2 GB stick for this ($15) and this has been pretty painless. Took me a couple of minutes to figure out that I couldn't just access the laptop's hard drive automatically (needed my WEP key) but after I did a quick login/logout as root, I'm up and running on wireless. Veddy nice. Now I can have Windows, Ubuntu and Fedora. Kudos Red Hat, kudos.
- angad, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1It's been there in the Solaris world for years - Belenix Live USB (http://www.genunix.org/distributions/belenix_site/ ...
- rahulsundaram, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1I don't see a Windows utility for that.
- notwizt, on 05/18/2008, -1/+1Um... making Linux boot from a USB stick is hardly anything new. I'm more for Ubuntu, myself.
http://www.google.com/search?q=ubuntu+live+usb
You're welcome.- rahulsundaram, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1The new thing of course is persistence, non-destructive cross platform support for that.
- Spartanlax360, on 05/18/2008, -0/+0AMAZING
- MasterSpy, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1^_^
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