“Puppy Linux is a small Linux live CD distribution that can boot from a CD, DVD, or USB drive; a hard disk is optional. According to the Puppy Linux Web site, Puppy’s goals include being Linux newbie-friendly, booting and running quickly, and including all the applications typical users need. The newest version is its most usable yet.”
…tool. I like the idea of using it for recovery.
One would hope the most recent was the most usable; it generally is not considered a good idea to release a new version that is less usable than an old version (although it has happened many times…).
What new problem does Puppy solve that isn’t already solved by one of the several hundred various Linux distros that already have live options, are small, can boot from multiple sources, are friendly and include useful apps? What does it do differently?
>What new problem does Puppy solve that isn’t already
>solved by one of the several hundred various Linux
>distros that already have live options, are small, can
>boot from multiple sources, are friendly and include
>useful apps? What does it do differently?
It is one of few distros that works out of the can for ordinary people – which is no mean feat. It offers no
brain install with a good blend of applications and a no fuss user interface.
Does the world need new designs of car? No, but a better blend of qualities is usually heralded with much interest.
Grab it and use it. Some of its advantages over other distros were obvious to me right away.
For example, Puppy can be written to (and booted from) a multisession CD-R or DVD, and it can then write further updates to the same CD or DVD, making it a completely self-contained ecosystem.
Very nice if you want to have a LiveCD that can be changed on the fly (new programs, config changes, etc.).
It’s also arguably *better* at being a small distro than either DSL or Feather. I used to use DSL heavily, but I’ve replace my DSL installations with Puppy at this point because I like the way Puppy works a bit better.
Also, many of my boxes are 8-9 years old, and most of the LiveCDs I’ve encountered (Knoppix, PCLinuxOS, and a wide range of others) do not detect the PS/2 Logitech 3-button mice I use correctly. Puppy does, as does DSL. It frustrates me that the larger mainstream desktop distros are dropping support for hardware the way they are…
Edited 2006-08-23 17:02
Multisession and writable on the fly: interesting.
Loads to RAM, frees CD: very interesting.
I don’t generally have much use for a LiveCD personally, but it does sound like it might be interesting.
Is there anything that this distro offers that hasn’t been covered many times before?
It’s small, fast, reliable, well-integrated, and comes with help videos and other useful documentation to make things very easy for a newbie.
It also defaults to a nice Rox/JWM desktop that I find very comfortable as a former OS/2 user. I like having lots of folders with icons that support drag-and-drop.
All in all, it’s the best LiveCD I’ve used to date, at least in the context I use it (older boxes). Not bad for a distro that’ll fit on a MiniCD with room to spare.
“What new problem does Puppy solve that isn’t already solved by one of the several hundred various Linux distros that already have live options, are small, can boot from multiple sources, are friendly and include useful apps? What does it do differently?”
Innovation doesn’t always revolve around the term “new”. Puppy combines speed, variety of programs, very fast boot, and the ability to carry your OS with you (including all of your files) If you haven’t tried a multi-session Puppy then your comment lacks credibility.
I haven’t tried Puppy at all, multi-session or not. I was asking a simple, logical question to see whether I might have any interest or not; I wasn’t making any comments, so I think my credibility is still intact.
Had I claimed that Puppy didn’t solve any new problems and that it didn’t do anything differently, and had not used it, then my comment would have lacked credibility.
No, your questions were fairly good. You can check out the main Puppy web site to learn more:
http://www.puppylinux.com
If I misread your post I apologize. I see so many posts that bash a particular distro by posing rhetorical questions that the poster has no interest in the answers. It appears that you were genuine in your question and I’m abashed that I jumped to an ubsubstantiated conclusion.
First difference is devotion: the Puppy developer is hand-tuning every application of the distro (this includes bug-reporting, bug-fixing and choosing unconventional versions of software).
He doesn’t just package the software like so many others, he only delivers working and tested sofware. And he keeps the track of it.
Sure, there are many other distros with helpful config GUIs, but the Puppy-tools and dialog-windows are unique, not copies or variations. But they are also ununiform and doing without the “beauty” of gtk- or qt-tools
And Puppy is one of the few LiveCDs, that comes with fully working multimedia “out-of-the-box” (PCLinuxOS is the other one)
Does that really make you wonder? Barry Kauler does release Puppy really fast – and this for years now
… just wait a few weeks(!) for a new release with new features.
No comment has referenced the real neat part of Puppy Linux…it loads to RAM inherently.
My wife is 80 and she finds Puppy Linux does a better job than win2000 since the windows interrupts her activities with advice and control statements she doesn’t understand.
Puppy is a clean desktop and cas run mozilla with ease providing her business needs, banking needs and e-mail as well as DVD play/CD play.
Neat as a pin!!!
Yup — it loads to RAM and frees up the CD drive for other things. That’s a nice touch.
I think Austrumi also does that.
My biggest objection to Puppy is the same as on Linspire: by default it logs you in as “root” and there’s no way to change this. The author’s attitude is “it’s not a problem, so deal with it”. I’m afraid that’s enough to completely put me off this distro.