Negus Live Linux Series The Official Damn Small Linux Book: The Tiny Adaptable Linux That Runs on Anything

✍ Scribed by Shingledecker, Robert;Andrews, John;Negus, Christopher

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 449
• Series: Negus Live Linux
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Make the Most of Today's Smallest, Fastest Desktop Linux Distribution-Damn Small Linux!Damn Small Linux (DSL) is a super-efficient platform for everything from custom desktops to professional servers. Now, DSL's creator and lead developer have written the first definitive, practical guide to this remarkable system. The Official Damn Small Linux Book brings together everything you need to put DSL to work in just minutes. Simply learn a few essentials, boot the live CD-ROM, and master the rest...one step at a time, hands-on. If you're new to Linux, you can quickly discover how to use DSL to take your data on the road, safely running your programs and personal environment on nearly any computer. Easily adapt DSL to run on anything from an alternative device (Internet appliance, hand-held, diskless PC, or mini-ITX system) to an older PC that might otherwise be headed for landfill. Use this book and CD-ROM package to Run DSL at blazing speed, from CD, USB pen drive, or directly from RAM Run DSL from your hard drive or in a virtual environment within Windows Add applications and create shareable extensions Customize and remaster DSL to create your own distribution Build a complete music and multimedia server Use Skype VoIP phone service in DSL Quickly set up an XAMPP Web server, complete with MySQL, PHP, and Perl, to host your personal Web pages CD-ROM Includes Several versions of Damn Small Linux that let you run DSL directly from the CD, a Windows desktop, a pen drive, or your PC's RAM. Software packages (MyDSL extensions) including everything you need to create an Edna music server, Skype(R) VoIP calling client, multimedia picture frame, and tiny XAMPP Web server. Tools for rebuilding and remastering Damn Small Linux. Your Practical, Hands-On Guides to Getting Real Results with Free Software Every book in this series encourages and challenges you to advance in the free software world. Boot the accompanying live DVD or CD and watch the Linux system, applications, and content described in the book come to life. When you finish, you'll know how to use, customize, and rebuild that open source software. Start as a novice, by trying out examples...and finish as a professional! System Requirements Processor: 486DX (recommended Pentium I) or higher Memory: 32MB RAM or more (can run entirely in memory in 128MB RAM) Disk space: No hard disk space required to run from CD-ROM or USB thumb drive; 50MB minimum for frugal hard disk installs; 200-300MB recommended minimum for traditional hard disk installs Graphics: SVGA-capable card with monitor capable of 800x600 resolution

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgments......Page 18
About the Authors......Page 20
Introduction......Page 22
As You Read This Book......Page 23
Audience for This Book......Page 24
Organization of This Book......Page 25
What You Need to Use This Book......Page 26
PART I: Using Damn Small Linux......Page 28
CHAPTER 1 Overview of Damn Small Linux......Page 30
Measuring Damn Small Linux Success......Page 31
Understanding What Damn Small Linux Does Best......Page 32
Getting the Most Out of Damn Small Linux......Page 35
What Is Damn Small Linux?......Page 39
Answers from the DSL Developers......Page 41
The Damn Small Linux Community......Page 45
On the CD......Page 47
Summary......Page 48
CHAPTER 2 Booting DSL......Page 50
Understanding How DSL Boots......Page 51
Hardware Requirements......Page 52
Getting Damn Small Linux......Page 53
Understanding Boot Stages of DSL......Page 56
Advanced Boot Options......Page 66
Summary......Page 67
The Logic Behind Our Choices......Page 68
The Fluxbox Window Manager......Page 69
Using the JWM Window Manager......Page 75
Using DSL Applications......Page 76
Summary......Page 90
CHAPTER 4 Configuring and Saving DSL Settings......Page 92
Backing Up and Restoring Your Configuration......Page 93
Configuring the Desktop......Page 96
Connecting to the Net......Page 104
Printing Using Apsfilter......Page 111
Saving Your Settings on the Web......Page 117
Summary......Page 119
Introducing MyDSL......Page 120
Changing Download Repository Mirror......Page 130
Accessing DSL Extensions via a Web Browser......Page 131
Saving Your Extensions......Page 134
Boot Time Automatic Extension Loading......Page 135
Optional Command-Line Extension Access......Page 136
Setup and Usage Errors......Page 137
Summary......Page 138
PART II: DSL Beyond the Live CD......Page 140
CHAPTER 6 Running a Native Pen Drive Install......Page 142
USB Boot Types—Background on the Two Types of USB Layouts......Page 143
Summary......Page 158
Running DSL in Qemu......Page 160
Running DSL in VMPlayer—VMWare's Free Virtual Machine......Page 167
Summary......Page 170
Overview......Page 172
Starting a DSL Installation......Page 174
Frugal—The Most Popular Way to Install DSL......Page 175
Poorman's—An Easy Way to Try DSL......Page 184
Frugal DSL Install on Windows 9x or DOS......Page 187
Poorman's Revisited......Page 189
No Operating System Network Install via Tomsrtbt......Page 193
Summary......Page 196
Conventional Hard Drive Install Versus Frugal Install......Page 198
Pre-Installation Preparation......Page 201
The Hard Drive Install Script......Page 204
Summary......Page 207
PART III: Creating Extensions and Remastering......Page 208
Overview......Page 210
Common Elements to All MyDSL Extensions......Page 213
Creating DSL and UNC Extensions......Page 215
Creating TAR.GZ and UCI Extensions......Page 222
Sharing Your Extension with the World......Page 228
Summary......Page 230
CHAPTER 11 Setting Up a Full Remastering Environment......Page 232
Making Your Frugal MyDSL Installation into a Bootable CD-ROM......Page 233
Full Remastering......Page 242
Summary......Page 262
PART IV: Making Damn Small Linux Projects......Page 264
An Argument for Using DSL in Embedded Systems......Page 266
USB Mountable Appliances......Page 267
Alternative CPU-Based Hardware......Page 268
Summary......Page 278
About the Edna Music Server......Page 280
Installing the Edna Server on DSL......Page 281
Editing the Path to Your Music......Page 283
Set Up Walk-Through......Page 285
Configuration Options, Customization, and Saving Setting......Page 288
Edna and Accessing Remote Music......Page 289
Summary......Page 290
CHAPTER 14 Using Skype VoIP Service in DSL......Page 292
Introduction to Skype and VoIP......Page 293
Setting Up VoIP Hardware......Page 295
Starting with Skype in DSL......Page 298
Using Skype......Page 301
Using Skype For-Pay Services and Products......Page 307
Troubleshooting Skype......Page 309
Summary......Page 311
CHAPTER 15 Running a Digital Media Frame with DSL......Page 312
Setting Project Goals......Page 313
Choosing a Laptop......Page 314
Getting the Parts You Need......Page 318
Installing and Configuring the Software......Page 320
Modifying the Laptop Hardware......Page 329
Summary......Page 332
CHAPTER 16 Setting Up an XAMPP Web Server in DSL......Page 334
Installing XAMPP......Page 335
Check That XAMPP Is Working......Page 336
Securing Your XAMPP Server......Page 339
Configuring Your XAMPP Server......Page 346
Adding Content to Your XAMPP Server......Page 351
Saving Your XAMPP Server......Page 352
Restarting Your XAMPP Server......Page 356
Backing Up Your XAMPP Server......Page 357
Summary......Page 358
PART V: Apendixes......Page 360
APPENDIX A: On the CD......Page 362
APPENDIX B: MyDSL Extensions......Page 366
A......Page 430
C......Page 431
D......Page 432
E......Page 434
G......Page 435
I......Page 436
J-K......Page 437
M......Page 438
P......Page 440
R......Page 441
S......Page 442
T......Page 444
W......Page 445
X......Page 446
Y-Z......Page 447