live dvd-ram?

[Waylander]

i have always wanted to give linux a go and figure a live cd is the way to go. i have a LG 4120B dvd-ram drive and was wondering if it would be possible to create a live disc using dvd-ram and if it would be possible to save any settings/changes i make onto the disc instead of using a harddrive.

[raid517]

It should be possible. Unfortunately not without knowing quite a lot about Linux first. Most Linux Live CDs will let you save your data to a USB key though. You probably wouldn't want to live with Linux on a CD or DVD very long anyway - as although it is an excellent demo - it is still just a demo. Performance won't be anything near what it would be if you had it installed for real.

Live CDs are good for fixing things (even with MS windows) and for impressing people.

Beyond this I'm not so sure how useful it would be for longer term use.

Someone might know of a DVD version of Knoppix you could use though. I'm sure I've heard of it. But making one yourself without having had any prior Linux experience? Probably not doable I'm afraid.

GJ

[markwolfe Veteran]

It sounds very possible.

I know that various LiveCD distros support either saving certain settings (or the whole /home partition) on devices such as memory sticks. It should be possible to have the DVD partitioned with the "Live" part in a partition, and the "/home" part as an extra partition.

I say this not knowing for a fact if a DVD-RAM can be partitioned into separate partitions. :unsure:

[raid517]

Well it may be possible. The question is could a relative novice do it? I am by most standards no Linux novice and even I think I would find it a long and complex process. The small and most immediate issue I envisage is that you would need to build an entire distribution from scratch in order to support this kind of functionality.

So from knowing nothing to building a whole new Linux distro in exactly zero steps is really what would be needed here. So perhaps the question should be rephrased, from is it possible to is it feesible?

The answer I think is a) yes it is possible but b) I doubt it's practical.

Sorry I can't give a more positive answer.

But why work so hard when there are viable solutions already in existance?

GJ

[Vlad]

Are DVD-RAM discs block devices? If so, are they partitionable? If not...how would you partition it? Which leads to another question...why would you need to partition it in the first place? How many times can a DVD-RAM disc be written/rewritten to?

If you can produce a DVD-RAM live cd then you are *definitely* not a newbie to linux.