I figured out from scratch how to "RAMboot"--copying the entire OS into a tmpfs ramdisk and then spinning down the hard drive.

The result is a stunningly fast and silent computer. I used to wait a few seconds after clicking on "Firefox" before the web browser came up. Now, it opens up before I lift my finger off the mouse button! Running entirely from RAM is FAAAAAAAAAAST.

That's the coolest thing I've done in Linux. I got my computer's OS "drive" to vastly outperform the fastest Raptor, the fastest RAID array, the fastest SSD--without spending a penny.

I assume you are talking about about a "tmpfs ramdisk" that is loaded from your hd not from a CD.

How big an image is it? -- I ask because Knoppix & other live CD's have a "toram" option, but then need at least a gig of RAM.

How did you do it?

Yes, it's loaded from the hard drive, and is NOT compressed. I'm writing up a how-to once I work out all of the kinks.

The basic idea is to create a copy of the OS partition and then use a simple script to delete unnecessary files. This includes the documentation and man pages, on the assumption that I have another computer to read documentation from (I do). It also includes a bunch of drivers I know I don't need for my hardware. This reduces the size of the resulting image down to less than 400megs. I think I could strip out a lot more stuff, if I look around for more unnecessary files.

That simple shell script then rolls up the stripped down image into a tarball. I first tried simply copying over the directory using "cp -vax", but that failed. The version of "cp" available in the initial ramdisk is pretty limited, and just can't handle copying over such a large directory structure. In contrast, tar had no problem with such a large image.

I only use "RAMboot" for a couple workstations with more than 512megs of RAM. I first experimented with it on a machine with 384megs of RAM. It was a tight fit, and even with just Iceweasel/Firefox running, browsing to a resource heavy web page could cause the web browser to unceremoniously quit.

Do you ever get to Houston?

I'll bet I could get you an good (50-ish) audience any "even" (2nd or 4th) Sat. No pay, but I bet we could feed & house you.

How's that for an off the wall offer?

No, I never go to Houston. Once a year, we visit Dallas for Project A-Kon.

I would love to do a demonstration, although the gas costs from Baton Rouge would be significant. E-mail me about it. Maybe July 12? Hmm...looking at my schedule, probably not so soon.

wrote a kernel driver to integrate a linux host with a texas instruments digital signal processor across the PCI bus, then wrote a server that would communicate with a specific Windows client, permitting a user on a Windows machine to command and control the TI DSP through the Linux box.

Got well paid for doing it too.

Oh.. Now I feel as though what I have accomplished is worthy of being posted... Anyway, since I've had a paradigm shift to using xmonad, coupled with my family complaining about me occupying a prime spot for a computer and not being able to use it, I've created a guest account that uses LXDE + Compiz-fusion for the desktop environment. I'll be using an RBAC security system to limit the account, while still make it usable for people to gain access to optical drives, usb devices, sound and video. I will also disable the logout feature because I'm anticipating most people who are going to use that account won't know aboutI should probably also mention I'm not using a display manager of any sort. So I'll be switching back and forth between displays with Ctrl+Alt+F7 and Ctrl+Alt+F8.

I'm planning on turning a computer we have from 97 or 98 into a MAME arcade emulator. I'm using a sort of vga box to link my SNES into my LCD monitor. It also accepts a vga input. Since my monitor accepts both vga and dvi input, my current computer will occupy the dvi input, while the vga box will occupy the vga input. So basically I have an SNES, retro arcade emulator and a PC hooked up to my monitor.

I have written a simple source based software distribution system called Gnuppix.

Some highlights:

Gnuppix, software package handling a'la GoboLinux (and stow) but with a slightly different approach.

The filesystem is the package manager (as in GoboLinux)!

The programs are installed/uninstalled by scripts which are distributed *together* with the program. No package management is needed.

All files (except for the base system) are stored in /gnuppix/programs/

The /usr directory contains (optional) symlinks to the programs in /gnuppix/programs/ (As in stow)

http://linuxconfig.dyndns.org:1184/l...x/Introduction

A Live CD/DVD with a read/write root (/) filesystem all in RAM. No cramfs or unionfs or squashfs needed..

Runs from a tmpfs RAM disk.

100-XXX MB base system which runs in RAM. Can be based on your favorite distro..

http://linuxconfig.dyndns.org:1184/l...or_Live_CD/DVD

Install Linux to a removable USB disk and using UUID and/or LABEL to find the root partition.

http://linuxconfig.dyndns.org:1184/l...vable_USB_disk

Using G4L (Ghost for Linux) to backup and restore a disk or partition.

http://linuxconfig.dyndns.org:1184/l...nd_Restore/G4L

I'm a Linux n00b - the coolest thing I've done is install Ubuntu so I can surf the Net with Firefox! LOL
But I'm learning slow but sure.

The coolest things I have done.

Install and Run Nessus. But that was a long time ago.

So now the coolest thing I know how to do is install fedora and surf the web.

First off Im a total NOOB so this took me a day or two --The coolest thing that I've done is... Configuring my linksys wireless card and Nvidia GeForceGO2 Video Card.

If anyone's interested in my HOW-TO for RAMboot, I've posted it on this forum (Member Success Stories).