I need to find the perfect distro to run off of a usb drive. Im using a fairly reliable laptop with 1 gig of ram so ram shouldnt be the problem. Ive went through several cd's testing out different distros that can run fast, are reliable, and have a decent GUI. So far i've tried.
Puppy Linux
Slax
gOS
DreamLinux
Linux Mint 'XFCE'
CrunchBang
Xubuntu
DSL
Peppermint Linux
I am a total newcomer to the linux scene and I really just need something thats simple, has a good GUI (easy to customize) and runs off a flash drive well. Persistency would also be a great feature like on Puppy Linux
Any and all suggestions are welcome
P.S. if you could suggest a good linux for newcomers guide I would be very happy
Thanks Much
Zach

Hi,

You can do frugal install of Puppy to USB drive, it will save your data on same USB drive, so persistency is there.
You can also do similar stuff with SLAX / Nimblex, but I would recommend to format part of USB as EXT* partition and put changes file there. I had some troubles when changes are saved to FAT partition. More here:
http://linuxblog.darkduck.com/2010/1...in-and-no.html
and in general http://linuxblog.darkduck.com/search/label/slax
You can probably do full install of *buntu into USB drive, but that will require significant USB size I believe.

I actually tried several Linux distros and put my notes in my blog (link below), but list is more or less the same as yours. Though, worth checking!

You can install any distro to your USB-stick. If you do a real install, not just copy a live-system to it, persistence is not an issue, all changes are saved directly into your OS and you can even install new software.

my vote is for fedora-14-live-usb because it is fairly simple to set up and pretty stable.

^ tobi and dark suggestions make sense if you are just gonna' boot to one pc.
if however you are like me and use it on the road then a live system is needed because it will switch the different graphic, wifi, ... drivers transparently.

Hi Zach (and welcome to the forums), you named 9 excellent Linux distros, so the obvious question is: did you like any of them? Why or why not?

I could just give you a list of my favorite distros, but since I don't know anything about your likes or dislikes, it would not be a meaningful recommendation.

If you don't use proprietary drivers that should be no problem. In fact it should be easier to upgrade an installed kernel to a newer version to get better driver support. But I think it simply depends on what one wants to achieve.

Everyone thank you . I really appreciate the time that you put into your answers and i know that I definitely have some research to do ;.

darkduck: Puppy is awesome! I love the customization, the speed and the controls. The only thing lacking for me is the streamline-ness of it (used correctly?) I personally think (as I am new to Linux) that it is way to hard for me to comprehend things like this. I think that the GUI is to messy and I would rather stick to something like Ubuntu, thats clean, and not to hard to understand. Therein lies the problem.

schneidz: I plan on using one pc thats the problem. But I will for sure see what all the hype about Fedora is. Is it easy to use for a beginner? That is a key thing that I will need

snowpine: Likes: Easy to use, nice GUI, simple software installation, fast, reliable, customizable. Dislikes: Messy, slow, cluttered, and just plain old hard to use for a "noob". I want to say that i've been growing up with Windows and Linux is totally new to me. So any and all advice is welcome

TobiSGD: Sadly my WiFi drivers are proprietary

BTW- I do EVENTUALLY plan on doing a HD install of whichever distro I choose. Just gotta wait for the HD to come in
Thanks Much
Zach

Ubuntu was my first distro. It is easy to use, has a great community over at ubuntuforums.org, and has a USB installer. Sounds exactly like Ubuntu (or one of its other "flavors" like Xubuntu, Kubuntu, etc.) is what you are looking for.

You might also consider Linux Mint, which is based on Ubuntu but with a few minor differences. Good luck!

If you only want to use it on one computer it doesn't matter if your Wifi needs proprietary drivers. If you like Ubuntu go for Ubuntu. I can also recommend Mint.
But it's totally up to you, try different distros and see what you like.

i've tried different distros in Live versions until installed some onto my HDD. Now I have Puppy, Ubuntu and Kubuntu installed. To be honest, Puppy is less used compared to other 2 which have equal shares for me. Some day I prefer Ku* eye candy, some day I prefer U* streamline.
I also continue with my Live experiments and put my thoughts into the blog. I think it is intended to people like you (and me). 8-)
As I tested Fedora after Ubuntu installation, I decided that it could be a good replacement for either U* or Ku* if I wanted some fresh blood. It is also user-friendly.