DSL question

ving (David) · #1 17-05-2006, 01:59 PM

hi folks, I was just going thru an old copy (april 06) of APC and noticed it has DSL. Has anyone here used DSL before? If so did you make it bootable from a USB flashpen? How did it go?

comments please.

I am going to look for the disc when i get home and give it a try...

h0ughy (David) · #2 17-05-2006, 02:17 PM

Are you talking about Damn small linux? as opposed to aDSL??

ving (David) · #3 17-05-2006, 02:35 PM

yes i am sir, yes i am!

allan gould · #4 17-05-2006, 06:26 PM

What would be the advantage of DSL as an operating system for astronomy?

ving (David) · #5 17-05-2006, 11:10 PM

eh?
I dont know, bout the same as windows i guess....
or maybe none.

acropolite (Phil) · #6 18-05-2006, 08:02 AM

I tried one of the USB stick bootable distros, worked OK but I wasn't happy with what it did to the windows install to boot. From memory it wrote some changes to the HDD on bootup, then rebooted to load itself. After use it then removed the bootfiles it had written to HDD and restored the HDD to it's normal state. A bit messy IMO, I don't know if they all do that though...

wraithe · #7 20-05-2006, 02:39 AM

DSL is ok if you need a reduced os for a purpose like small drives or using it to netboot with the os mounted on the bios or a flash card, but it is limited in a lot of ways...
if you want to try your hand at linux then i suggest getting a live dvd (and hope you have dvd drive).. then you can boot off the drive and not install..this will allow you to try linux without altering your hard drive...if you have windows installed with hard drive using ntfs then dont start installing linux as you can actually loose your windows os and have to completely reinstall windows from scratch...only heard of one partition resizing tool that can resize windows ntfs and i have never used it(partition magic)...
dsl is good for old pc's like a pI or pII with small drive and low memory...
if you use a pc with 64+ meg ram and have 10 gb of drive you can spare easy, then go for a complete distro and enjoy the benefits of linux...
by the way, linux has some good star guides and programmes for astronomy...
stellarium is one thats around and kstars,(i use it but have no scope to try it with)...
If you are serious about trying linux then you are welcome to send me a pm or email...
K