My "Personal" Linux Computer, Updated May 2008

I use Puppy Linux and welcome you to try it for your own amazement. A live CD of about 80MB contains the operating system and many applications. It quickly boots and runs really fast in RAM on almost any Intel type computer. Strictly speaking you don't even need a hard drive - you can remove the CD once it's running and use the drive for something else! (Alternatively, you could boot from a USB flash drive, including configuration, with no CD.) I keep my configuration file, any added programs, and of course my data on the hard drive. Otherwise the computer is untouched and the Linux OS remains safely on the live CD - you don't need to "install" it. "Free software and freedom from the bloat and burden of Microsoft."

"Overall, Puppy Linux is a superb, light-weight, fast and versatile Linux distribution with a great selection of applications, graphical system administration utilities and all sorts of unique features not readily available elsewhere. A great choice not only for older computers, but also for those who dislike the bloat of most modern distributions." - Distrowatch.com, October 2005

This is a different Linux, written from the ground up by Australian professor Barry Kauler, with contributions from other brilliant international designers, and countless enthusiastic others. Unlike the usual live CD system, which runs slowly, frequently accessing the CD, Puppy is as fast as you'll find.

To switch to linux insert the CD and reboot. To go back remove the CD and reboot. That's it - about 45 seconds.

I kept my old computer, but with Puppy I have a free new computer that shares my existing files and hardware. All my data (books, photos, email, etc.) remain accessible from either OS.

The screenshot below is of my earlier "customized" Puppy, using the JWM windows manager. The drives and partitions at the upper right can be "mounted" (indicated by the green dot) for access as needed. Drive D (hda2 in Linux), the principal data partition, is auto-mounted for ready access. G-sda is a usb flash memory and J-sdb1 is a usb camera port.



The desktop icons represent only some of the programs in the menu. Some of my choices are, from the top left, rxvt(terminal), geany(text editor), pfind, gftp, bluefish(html editor), Adobe 5 reader, grafburn, gxine player, xcalc, pbdict(great dictionary), gqviewer, gimp(great photo editor), openoffice.org (including Writer, etc. and the rest), Mozilla Seamonkey internet suite.

The group of five icons to the right are photos folder, mount/unmount, documents folder, rox-filer, and emelfm2.

At the lower right are indicators for Glipper (a handy clipboard stacker), network activity, speaker volume, remaining memory, cpu, and clock-calendar. The task bar is auto-hidden to save screen space.

New development - I augment the basic puppy with add-on files for larger programs like OpenOffice.org. while retaining Puppy's speed!

The second screenshot just below uses Puppy Nop 3.01, and the Opera browser (which I have used for about ten years!) A major difference is the excellent XFCE windows manager/desktop environment, which replaces Rox. Its upper and lower panels are of course autohidden, and do not get in the way of your work.



The third screenshot just below uses Puppy Nop 4.01 but I have added Qemu, which is a processor emulator that lets me run windows programs, for example WordPerfect, which has no Linux version. Here you see several windows programs running in Windows 2000 which is running with several other programs via Qemu on Puppy Linux!



My personalized Puppy is based on the latest standard version, specifically Nop 4.01. If, like me, you enjoy the challenge and opportunity of adapting your own small, fast, efficient, and safe computer to your exact wants, look no further than Puppy Linux.

(Extensive technical notes on my small, fast windows computer, which shares the same hardware and data, are linked from my main page, Henry Strobel, Violin Maker & Publisher).