Good Morning from my Robotics Lab! This is Shadow_8472 and today I am overhauling an old Windows XP machine with a tiny distro called Puppy Linux. Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tiny Linux distributions have reduced complexity \u2013 meaning fewer distractions from the core functionality of your system, which makes them work great as a learning environment. I learned the Linux terminal on MicroCore Linux building upon previous experience from using commands in games like Minecraft. I aimed a bit too high and stalled when I wasn\u2019t ready to start repackaging software, but I still consider that period one of the most productive projects regardless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another good use for miniature Linux distros is old computers. Specialty software, like commercial quality games, may pose an extra challenge to locate and install various libraries found in general purpose systems, but if all you need is a browser and a basic office suite, a refurbished system with a slim OS may be all you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first thing I learned coming back to Puppy was that it\u2019s a whole branch of Linux distributions and has been for some time [1]. Even a distro outside the definition of puppy\/puplet\/etc. may still be considered part of the family if it follows certain principles Puppy is built upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My project this week is on an old church office computer running Windows XP Professional 32 bit on a 64 bit CPU. It has 2GB DDR2 RAM and a pair of 150GB HDD\u2019s configured in a BIOS-level \u201cIntel ARRAY\u201d (mirrored per RAID 1, but not in name) with a 100 GB main partition, a 50GB partition labeled backup, and a couple tiny partitions for system files\/recovery files respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One talking point from Puppy\u2019s site is how \u201cGrandpa friendly\u201d it is and how active the community is. I went ahead with making an account on the forum, left a request for a most user-friendly puppy overnight in the new users\u2019 section. I never gotten so much help so fast. Consensus was that I should try Friendly Fossa 64-4 once I brought up that I was interested in burning it to CD \u2013 my third download after the base Fossa 64 and Friendly Fossa 64-2; all install .ISO\u2019s are dropped onto my Ventoy multi-boot USB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s amazing what built-in help can do for a system in terms of user-friendliness! Both Friendly variants each had a conspicuous help directory on their desktops, which the official Fossa64 build lacked. I\u2019m impressed with how easy answers seem to be if I just take the time to explore those, various settings, or miscellaneous tooltips. This is a distro for people who aren\u2019t ready for the command line. I just haven\u2019t successfully loaded a pupfile (computer session save file) yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
were a big improvement over their official Fossa 64 build thanks to a conspicuous directory on the desktop and various other help tooltips. I\u2019m impressed with how easy it is to find my own answer if I just explore. I\u2019m not a fan of the exact graphical style, but if ever there were one distro for people scared of the command line, this would be it \u2013 provided I can figure out how to load a pupfile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Puppy works by copying everything into RAM. It first loads a base image, then modifies it with a \u201cpupfile\u201d made using that image when you shutdown and save a session. If I understand things correctly, you should only save sessions where you tweak system settings. Otherwise, data goes on mounted drives, where it stays regardless of pupsaves. I could be wrong though. Either way, this makes it almost trivial to flush out a virus by rebooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, I\u2019ve burned the install media to CD and done a lot of exploring. I will need to come back to this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Takeaway<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not a fan of the exact graphical style, and I still have much to learn. While Puppy takes a massively different approach to personal computing than mainstream operating systems, it\u2019s overall one I can see myself recommending to people looking to learn Linux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is the most unusual computer configuration you\u2019ve used?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I look forward hearing your answers on in the comments below or on my Socials<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [1] Puppy Linux Team, \u201cAbout Puppy Linux,\u201d puppylinux-woof-ce.github.io <\/em>2020. [Online]. Available: https:\/\/puppylinux-woof-ce.github.io\/<\/a>. [Accessed: Jan. 2, 2023].<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good Morning from my Robotics Lab! This is Shadow_8472 and today I am overhauling an old Windows XP machine with a tiny distro called Puppy Linux. Let\u2019s get started! About Puppy Tiny Linux distributions have reduced complexity \u2013 meaning fewer distractions from the core functionality of your system, which makes them work great as a … <\/p>\nWorks Cited<\/h2>\n\n\n\n