I have Damn Small Linux booting off of a usb key. I want to be able to boot it, use it - creating files, downloading apps -, and then save these apps and files on the same usb key DSL is stored on for the OSs next use. It is this third step I am unsure how to swiftly do - saving everything like you would on a hard drive installed OS. How should this be done? Thanks for your help.

There are two types of hard disk installs (a pen drive is actually a hard disk to Linux using the same device name).

One is the normal install that you are seeking and the other is to run it in a Live CD mode.

You will find both are offered in DSL currently in your pen drive.

To install it normally you need to have empty hard disk space to create a partition for DSL to reside in. The partition should be created with DSL.

Sorry if I was unclear. I'm not trying to do any type of installation. I'm using DSL embedded on a pen drive just like one would use knoppix on a live cd - except a pen drive can be writen and rewriten. So I want to take advantage of that fact and be able to easily save things to the same pen drive DSL is installed to - apps, files, etc.

But you can install the DSL in the pen drive to any partition, say in the same pen drive or another pen drive.

The fact it works like a Live CD means it is still installable as the original CD. You have just moved the distro from a CD to a pen drive and changed the isolinux boot loader to Grub, otherwise everything is exactly the same between a CD or a pen drive version.

I haven't used the saved setting in Live CD install this way but I believe DSL has this option somewhere but it is a lot simpler if you simply choose the other install (the normal method).

The main reason people use the Live CD mode install is to not to have a permanent setting so that the same pen drive can be plugged into any computer. If you use it permanently then do a normal install which DSL provides. I have installed DSl both modes with many versions of DSL. You are simply using Live CD mode but wanting the normal mode convenience.

In a Live CD mode install the root filing structure is usually compressed into one file to reduce its footprint and all settings are not saved so that the distro is ready to start on any new computer. That is what a Live CD distro supposed to do. If you want to save files in DSL Live CD mode just make a directory and put files in it. The directory will remain available in the pen drive whether you boot DSL or not.

A normal install may be 2 to 3 times bigger than a Live CD mode install because the files are expended and cam be read by other OS if the partition is mounted.