Linux on CD
 

Is there really much day-to-day practical use for a portable (CD) distribution, such as Knoppix? It makes a great rescue disk (saved my hard drive once), but as I observed while using Knoppix, an operating system running off a CD is far too slow to be preferable.

day to day practical, i'm not sure...although i do run slax sometimes, and it's pretty zippy....not slow at all. with many, like slax and knoppix and mandrake-move(?) you can save configs to a disk or a pendrive, and use them on any computer that will boot, so you have your stuff whereever you are... i can see where some people could actually see a day to day practical use for them...

For example, if you want to demonstrate the capabilities/contents of a Linux distro, Knoppix and other on-CD versions come in handy because you don't need to install the system, or otherwise change someone elses' system setup or hard disk contents. Just be sure to remind them frequently that it's running slower than would otherwise the case because it must decompress files on the fly.

However, Knoppix can be installed to one or more partitions formatted for Linux, in which it will run faster.

It also wouldn't hurt to keep reminding anyone you demonstrate Knoppix to, of it's value as a rescue CD. Or, for the more patient users, remind them that they can have and use a Linux distro without changing their system (ie, partitioning, installing, etc.), just by running from the CD.

PS: a copy of the Knoppix cheat-sheet wouldn't hurt either.

Practical! No! your CD is never going to match the speed of your HD. However, as you stated they are great for rescueing currupt systems or if your doing some mischievous stuff, (not that I would ever)...

KC