On Nov 18, 2007 12:14 AM, Andy Stewart <andystewart@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi Kevin,
When I was a newbie, Linux live CDs didn't yet exist, but they do now!
I find the Knoppix CD/DVD useful for testing a new piece of hardware (like a laptop) to see if all of the pieces work with Linux. I believe that the Ubuntu CDs can also boot up in a live mode. In this way, you can try Linux without messing with your hard drive, and also see if your hardware works with that distribution.
With Fedora 8, there's also a Fedora Live CD. I tried it on my laptop. Works nicely, though it (like Ubuntu, when I had it installed) didn't see my built-in webcam at all. :( All else aside, I'm actually pleased to see the LiveCD for Fedora. I've been using Red Hat variants since the early 1990s, and I like to know what things look like before I install it. (For those that might be new to the term, Live CDs are handy for using Linux on systems that you can't install Linux on otherwise.)
Note that if something doesn't work with the live CD, that doesn't necessarily mean it won't work with Linux at all, but demonstrating that something *does* work is a good thing.
Even then, many of the things that don't work out-of-the-box will work with a little research and poking. My webcam just isn't one of them, as far as i can tell. :\ -- Bill Smith Fall River, MA Charter Member of LOPSA