Finnix 88.0 review

Finnix is a self-contained, bootable Linux CD distribution ("LiveCD") for system administrators, based on Debian testing "etch". Y

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 0K Developer: Finnix Team

0

Finnix is a self-contained, bootable Linux CD distribution ("LiveCD") for system administrators, based on Debian testing "etch".

You can mount and manipulate hard drives and partitions, monitor networks, rebuild boot records, install other operating systems, and much more.

Finnix includes the latest technology for system administrators, with Linux kernel 2.6, LVM2, encrypted partitions, etc. And above all, Finnix is small; currently the entire distribution is over 300MB, but is dynamically compressed into a 105MB bootable image.

Finnix is not intended for the average desktop user, and does not include any desktops, productivity tools, or sound support, in order to keep distribution size low.

Finnix is freely distributable under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

Here are some key features of "Finnix":
Finnix is based on Debian "testing"; Knoppix is based on Debian "unstable" and several other repositories.
Finnix is available as a 105MB ISO; Knoppix is available as a 700MB or 3.5GB ISO (CD/DVD editions).
Knoppix includes XFree86 and many, many desktop and productivity tools and games; Finnix does not.
Finnix includes utilities not found in Knoppx, such as LVM2, cryptsetup, cdpr, iftop, irssi, reiser4progs, an OTP calculator, VLAN tools, and the essential robotfindskitten.
Finnix includes a different Linux kernel than Knoppix; as of this writing, 2.6.13.3 versus 2.6.12, respectively.
Finnix uses an almost completely reworked initrd, a compressed ROM filesystem with BusyBox; Knoppix's initrd uses a compressed ext2 filesystem with statically compiled tools.
Knoppix can be installed on a hard drive or use floppies/USB keys for storing personal data; Finnix cannot.
Finnix can be copied to RAM and run in only 256MB; Knoppix requires at least 1GB.
Knoppix is available in several languages and has an impressive array of internationalization tools; Finnix is English only.

Requirements:
586 or higher x86 CPU (will work on AMD64/EM64T CPUs in 32-bit mode)
32MB RAM absolute minimum; 128MB recommended
Standard ATAPI CDROM drive (many SCSI CDROM drives will also work)
Linux swap partition recommended, but not required
Network card recommended, but not required
At least 256MB RAM is required to run Finnix completely within RAM.