Official Damn Small Linux Book

This book offers dozens of ways to use this neat, efficient Linux system for making everything from custom desktop systems on a pen drive to fun projects, such as a stand-alone kiosk or digital picture frame. The book will appeal to a wide range of people: from those who just want to take their data on the road (along with the applications to work with it) to those who want to use DSL to develop hardware and software solutions. This book explores the possibilities DSL offers to end users, system integrators, and software developers. With DSL's powerful customization and remastering tools, anyone from a novice user to a computer guru can create a personalized DSL for themselves or their business. Novice readers will be able to do something immediately--boot up, save their own data, and add their own applications. Advanced users can go as far as they want, understanding the core of what DSL does so they can make highly-customized, remastered (rebuilt from the ground up) or ported (made to run on different hardware) versions of DSL.Make the Most of Today's Smallest, Fastest Desktop Linux Distribution-Damn Small Linux! Damn Small Linux (DSL) is a super-efficient platform for everything from custom desktops to professional servers. Now, DSL's creator and lead developer have written the first definitive, practical guide to this remarkable system. The Official Damn Small Linux Book brings together everything you need to put DSL to work in just minutes. Simply learn a few essentials, boot the live CD-ROM, and master the rest...one step at a time, hands-on. If you're new to Linux, you can quickly discover how to use DSL to take your data on the road, safely running your programs and personal environment on nearly any computer. Easily adapt DSL to run on anything from an alternative device (Internet appliance, hand-held, diskless PC, or mini-ITX system) to an older PC that might otherwise be headed for landfill. Use this book and CD-ROM package to...o Run DSL at blazing speed, from CD, USB pen drive, or directly from RAMo Run DSL from your hard drive or in a virtual environment within Windowso Add applications and create shareable extensionso Customize and remaster DSL to create your own distributiono Build a complete music and multimedia servero Use Skype VoIP phone service in DSLo Quickly set up an XAMPP Web server, complete with MySQL, PHP, and Perl, to host your personal Web pages CD-ROM Includeso Several versions of Damn Small Linux that let you run DSL directly from the CD, a Windows desktop, a pen drive, or your PC's RAM.o Software packages (MyDSL extensions) including everything you need to create an Edna music server, Skype® VoIP calling client, multimedia picture frame, and tiny XAMPP Web server.o Tools for rebuilding and remastering Damn Small Linux. Your Practical, Hands-On Guides to Getting Real Results with Free Software Every book in this series encourages and challenges you to advance in the free software world. Boot the accompanying live DVD or CD and watch the Linux system, applications, and content described in the book come to life. When you finish, you'll know how to use, customize, and rebuild that open source software. Start as a novice, by trying out examples...and finish as a professional! System Requirementso Processor: 486DX (recommended Pentium I) or highero Memory: 32MB RAM or more (can run entirely in memory in 128MB RAM)o Disk space: No hard disk space required to run from CD-ROM or USB thumb drive; 50MB minimum for frugal hard disk installs; 200-300MB recommended minimum for traditional hard disk installso Graphics: SVGA-capable card with monitor capable of 800x600 resolution Acknowledgements xviiAbout the Authors xix Introduction 1Part I: Using Damn Small Linux 7Chapter 1: Overview of Damn Small Linux 9Chapter 2: Booting DSL 29Chapter 3: Using DSL Applications 47Chapter 4: Configuring and Saving DSL Settings 71Chapter 5: Extending Applications with MyDSL 99Part II: DSL Beyond the Live CD 119Chapter 6: Running a Native Pen Drive Install 121Chapter 7: Running DSL Embedded in Windows 139Chapter 8: Installing DSL in Alternate Ways 151Chapter 9: Performing a Traditional Hard Drive Install 177PART III: Creating Extensions and Remastering 187Chapter 10: Adding Applications and Creating Shareable Extensions 189Chapter 11: Setting up a Full Remastering Environment 211PART IV: Making Damn Small Linux Projects 243Chapter 12: Running DSL on Alternative Hardware 245Chapter 13: Making an Edna Music Server in DSL 259Chapter 14: Using Skype VoIP Service in DSL 271Chapter 15: Running a Digital Media Frame with DSL 291Chapter 16: Setting up an XAMPP Web Server in DSL 313Part V: Appendixes 339Appendix A: On the CD 341Appendix B: MyDSL Extensions 345