Introduction To PuppyLinux

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Introduction To PuppyLinux

Linux is known to be capable of virtually running everywhere and doing anything. Not only does it run on a majority of our world’s supercomputers, but it can also run on the tiniest systems ever made, just as the size of a quarter.

The following article were taken from: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/wanted-puppy-linux/

As I’m fairly sure you know, Linux is known to be capable of virtually running everywhere and doing anything. Not only does it run on a majority of our world’s supercomputers, but it can also run on the tiniest systems ever made, just as the size of a quarter. Today we’ll be taking a look at a distribution of Linux that is famous for being able to run with very little hardware requirements, Puppy Linux.

Puppy Linux isn’t based on another distribution; it is developed completely on its own. The system can, however, be built from packages of other distributions like Ubuntu, Arch Linux, andSlackware thanks to the Woof project. One of the great advantages of this distribution is it’s very small size. Generic Puppy Linux offers a 128MB ISO to download, with both “new” and long-term release options available. The small size lets Puppy Linux boot on any CD or USB stick and run with a weak CPU and low amount of memory. Puppy Linux is also constructed so that the computer doesn’t even need to have a hard drive for Puppy Linux to run. Don’t worry, there’s still a way to install this distribution to a hard drive if you desire.

Puppy Linux is also very customizable. A handful of developers have taken it and created their own specialized versions of it. The site offers a whole list of different “puplets” that offer special features or support. Among the specialized puplets includes non-English puplets and special-purpose puplets, that range from helping with certain subjects to being targeted for netbooks. Therefore, this distribution will suit your needs very well.

As you may expect from Linux Live CDs, getting started is very easy. Once you have the ISO burned to a CD or written to a USB stick, you simply need to boot off of that media. Puppy Linux will then scan through the hardware before launching the desktop environment. Once that finishes, you’ll see something like this:

Remember that Puppy Linux is a very lightweight distribution, so don’t expect anything fancy from it (although there’s a puplet that adds some eye candy, including Compiz). The desktop, however, is still very eye pleasing, and doesn’t make you feel like you’ve been sent back to 1995. Speaking of which, I’m pretty sure that Windows 95 was more than 128MB, and yet Puppy Linux, the simplified distro, is still capable of more.

Installing this distribution is also fairly easy. A universal installer is available on the desktop to get Puppy Linux onto your hard drive or other media.

Installing application packages is easy too, which you can do in the Puppy Package Manager. Quickpup let’s you install popular packages very quickly via a native package format.

The rest is up to you. You can do whatever you wish with Puppy Linux from here on out. Many people choose Puppy Linux over traditional distributions because it works, runs fast, and has great graphics for a lightweight distribution. Therefore, you get more work done quickly and have the distro stay out of your way so that it doesn’t bog you down.

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