finnix (live-cd 100M )

ccwufu

http://www.finnix.org/

>>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.

如果去掉knoppix 压缩文件，那么是一个非常小的linux (live cd)

Finnix is a self-contained, bootable Linux CD distribution ("LiveCD") for system administrators, based on Debian testing. 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 bootable image under 100MB. 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.



Finnix 86.0 was started by taking a fresh Debian testing installation and adding hundreds of sysadmin-related utilities to it. Then, using Knoppix as a reference (and even taking some code from Knoppix), hardware autodetection, ramdisk, and CD booting support were added. The result is the best of all worlds: a fast, small, bootable CD with excellent hardware detection and many sysadmin-releated utilities. Once booted into Finnix, you will be hard-pressed to find many differences between Finnix and a normal Debian testing computer, loaded with utilities.

The original version of the Finnix homepage, for version 0.03, has been preserved for your nostalgic pleasure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why the name "Finnix"? Is it related to "Knoppix"?
Finnix actually predates Knoppix. It is a play on my name, Ryan Finnie, combined with Linux.

Is the Finnix distribution a derivative of Knoppix? The bootup looks similar.
I wouldn't consider it a derivative. Finnix is based on Debian, but uses scripts modified from Knoppix to do hardware autodetection. In addition, Finnix uses some of the same base tools as Knoppix, such as Unionfs for merging the CD with a ramdisk. However, Finnix is (IMHO) more true to Debian than Knoppix. In most cases, you can bring the CD up to date via a simple "apt-get -u dist-upgrade".

What are the differences between Finnix and Knoppix?

Finnix is based on Debian "testing"; Knoppix is based on Debian "unstable" and several other repositories.
Finnix is available as a ~100MB 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.
Finnix uses squashfs for the compressed loopback filesystem; Knoppix uses cloop.
Knoppix can be installed on a hard drive; Finnix cannot.
Finnix can be copied to RAM and run in only 192MB; Knoppix requires at least 1GB.
Knoppix is available in several languages and has an impressive array of internationalization tools; Finnix is English only.
What are the differences between Finnix and Debian?
Finnix is essentially Debian testing, modified to run in a small environment on a CD. The key modifications are:

Replaced standard rcS.d initscripts with scripts that are more suited for a LiveCD environment.
Replaced standard kernel with a newly-compiled kernel.
Removed contents of /usr/share/doc.
Removed localization tools, locales and non-english manpages (English manpages remain though).
Includes packages not found in Debian's apt repository (currently, the only package is cdpr).
So what do you have against Knoppix? Why are you stealing code from it?
I have nothing against Knoppix! It is a fine distribution and I still use it in many places. Finnix is just more of a specialized distribution. In fact, I am grateful for Klaus Knopper; his excellent work, particularly on the autodetection tools has essentially made the reincarnation of Finnix possible. (I hope nobody actually asks this question in real life.)

What is squashfs?
If Finnix were released without squashfs, the ISO would be over 300MB. The squashfs module lets you mount a compressed image, and the relevant data is decompressed on the fly in chunks. This allows for a 3:1 compression ratio in many cases.

What is Unionfs?
Unionfs is a stackable filesystem, allowing you to "merge" several different filesystems together. In Finnix's case, a ramdisk is merged with the read-only CD filesystem. The net effect is you can modify any file or create new files anywhere on the system, even on the CD portion of the filesystem. The changes are transparently written to the ramdisk, and lost after reboot.

I've heard that Knoppix is faster than most LiveCDs because the CD filesystem is "optimized" before it is mastered. Does Finnix have this feature?
Yes. Nearly all files needed during initial bootup are placed at the beginning of the filesystem, near the inner loop of the CD.

Why is Finnix based on Debian? Why not Fedora/SuSE/Slackware/my favorite distro?
While it would have been almost as easy to base Finnix on another distribution (remember, the first released version was based on Red Hat 6.1), my strongest experience currently lies with Debian. It has a small footprint (base setup is about 100MB) and a nice package management system.

(Random trivia: if I didn't go with Debian, my next choice probably would have been CentOS, derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux.)

accurix

有中文版本吗？