Book review: Live Linux CDs: Building & Customizing Bootables

Normally, a computer has an operating system installed on the hard drive. When the computer powers up, the hard drive reads the operating system, loads it into memory, and the system is ready to go.

With a live CD, the operating system is on the CD-ROM, and the system boots from that, completely bypassing the hard drive.

Why would someone want to do such an unorthodox thing? Here are a few reasons:

• The OS on the hard drive could be damaged, infected, or otherwise corrupt. A live CD provides a sterile, stable environment to make repairs.
• The live CD may represent an operating system that the user wants to test out, without disturbing the operating system that is already installed on the hard drive.
• The computer may not have a hard drive at all.

There are many more possible uses for a live CD, and after reading this book the reader is encouraged to find some new uses for it.

Live Linux CDs is organized into three sections: Beginning with Bootable Live Linuxes, Creating a Custom Bootable Linux, and Making a Specialized Bootable Linux. As the sections progress, so does the level of difficulty. A Linux newcomer should be able to get through Section 1, but may need the occasional life-line in the remaining chapters. Concepts are well explained and directions are clear. Included is a DVD that contains the 10 live Linux distributions described in the book.

Section One starts off with an introduction to live Linux CDs that is well suited for the beginner. A little background and some beginner’s tips are included. Although a Linux user may have a slight edge, a strictly Windows user shouldn’t have to worry too much. After all, this is a great way to try out Linux. The rest of Section One is devoted to helping a user get the most out of the live Linux distributions that are included on the DVD.

Section Two dives right into how a live Linux distribution works. How it boots, how it detects hardware, and how it operates are described in detail. From there, the chapters focus on three specific distributions to customize — Knoppix, Fedora, and Gentoo. I took the time to work through the steps for each of these, and although my current resources prevented a successful Gentoo customization, my Knoppix and Fedora live CDs worked flawlessly.

Section Three rounds out the book with tutorials that walk the reader through making specialized live CDs. Some of the examples include making a live CD Firewall for security and a live CD Cluster for redundancy. These last chapters answer the question “Where do I take it from here” quite well.

If there is a downside to this book, it’s that customizing a live Knoppix CD is already covered in Knoppix Hacks. This leaves some potential overlap in the reader’s library. However, the coverage of Fedora and Gentoo live distributions is unique, accurate, and useful. There is plenty here to inspire the experienced as well as spark the interest of the beginner.

Jon Benedict works for Red Hat as a consultant in their Global Professional Services group. When not making the world a safer place for open source, he cooks and plays guitar.

This entry was posted by Jon Benedict on Thursday, January 18th, 2007 at 4:00 am and is filed under review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.