LinuxWorld: Knoppix Makes a Great GUI Installer for Debian

“I’ve gotten in trouble with some readers lately. I would prefer
to think it is just age and the curmudgeonhood that often
accompanies it. But the truth is sometimes I just blow it. I don’t
mean the angry Windows users who were in denial about Linux being a
better install. Nor am I talking about the gamesters (and game
resellers) who felt it unfair of me to speculate on the reasons for
Epic Games’ stealth release of Unreal Tournament 2003 for Linux.
I’m talking about someone who was dead right to call me on what I
said.

“His name is Klaus Knopper. He took me to task for having
referred to Knoppix as a ‘demo distribution.’ Knoppix, of course,
is wildly popular for demonstrating Linux. The Austin LUG, for
example, recently gave away 400 Knoppix CDs from their booth at a
local computer show.

“As Knopper told me, ‘Knoppix is a real Debian system.’ I’ve
seen mention of it being used as a rescue CD, as a secure firewall,
as a portable network monitor and as a traveling companion that
allows you to read e-mail away from home without leaving tell-tale
traces on someone else’s hard drive. Others have been interested in
experimenting with it as a secure Apache server. Knopper has said
he is working on a project that will allow it to be used as a
terminal server…”

Complete
Story