I have a question. Does Antix work like Puppy Linux in that you can boot from a CD which loads into RAM and access a save file(s) from a hard drive?

What I am liking about Antix is that I have full access to the Debian repos and the packages are standard rather than .pet files.

AntiX doesn't really behave the same as Puppy, but you can do a frugal install of AntiX that works sort of similarly. It's just not as easy to install that way as Puppy is.


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rmcellig wrote:I have a question. Does Antix work like Puppy Linux in that you can boot from a CD which loads into RAM and access a save file(s) from a hard drive?

To load the system into RAM (for faster performance and to free up the cdrom drive) select"F4 Options" -->"to ram" in the bootloader.

I think"save file(s)" is similar to what we call persistence. Go to the RemasterCC (Remaster Control Centre) and select"Enable Persistence". This will allow you to create a rootfs and a homefs file on any read-write drive. On the LiveCD you will need to specify that drive when you boot by typing in"pdev=" or"plabel=" or"puuid=" along with the appropriate value. If you make a disk label called"antiX-Persist" on the partition that holds these files then we will look for it automatically whenever you choose one of the Persistence options from the main menu in the LiveCD bootloader.

If you can boot off of a USB stick then I highly recommend that you make a LiveUSB. If you use a LiveUSB, we will look on the same device for the persistence files. In addition, you will also have access to the remaster-live feature which will create a new compressed filesystem for you and automatically use it the next time you boot. Finally, an"F7 Save" menu should appear in the bootloader. This will let you save whatever you have selected in the bootloader as the defaults. It can save menu choices as well as parameters you type in manually.

What I am liking about Antix is that I have full access to the Debian repos and the packages are standard rather than .pet files.

Yes, you got it in one. We are like Puppy in some ways but we are also a standard Debian system after you install. Even on the Live system you can use Synaptic and all that jazz but you have to watch how much RAM you use because file system changes are normally stored in RAM. You can get around this if you enable static root persistence which saves changes directly to the rootfs file on disk but this usually runs much slower. You can switch back and forth between static and dynamic root persistence (or no persistence) on every boot.

This is handy because if you run out of RAM while using dynamic root persistence, you can switch to static root persistence and then run remaster-live. This will move all of the file system changes to a new squashfs file that it creates. When you reboot, the system will be the same but with more RAM available.

You might also be interested in the
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that we have been collaborating on. The RC2 release came out yesterday and looks pretty good. It too has all of the features I mentioned above. The only difference is that the default name for the persistence partition when you are using a LiveCD is"MX-14-Persist". Just in case I spelled the labels wrong (I'm good at that) you can enable persistence on the LiveCD and you will see what label we are looking for early in the boot process. There is a written record of it in /var/log/live/bootloader.log.

PS: the Frugal install Neil mentioned is just like a LiveUSB but installed on an internal drive instead of a usb stick.

not to toot my own horn, but there are some liveUSB and persistence videos up on my channel. I'm totally addicted to having my full video editing suite in my pocket at all times. You would be amazed what fits on an 8gb usb stick.

Your videos are fabulous. I've learned a lot from them. Seriously. Are your videos one of the default bookmarks in the browser on antiX yet? IMO we should be pushing your videos more. Maybe there would be a way to make a desktop icon that goes to them. I think VLC will play youtube videos directly but I don't know if it comes as standard equipment on antiX.

Thanks for the replies!! I fully agree that Dolphin's videos are gold! I would love to see more videos on Antix as well as somehow incorporating them into the Antix distros. That would be fantastic!

Dolphins videos are why I have installed antiX yesterday evening and why I am here __{{emoticon}}__ I expect I am not the only one - give that man a medal!

FYI guys, somewhere I have a video thread...I take requests __{{emoticon}}__

antix-13-videos-t4396.html?hilit=antix%20videos