Distros / OSs

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to fix

Linux

See also Stack

  • OpenSourceWatershed is a project aimed at understanding the relationship between distributions (downstream) and the individual software components (upstream). It is the basis for a larger study of distributions and their evolution. It is distrology. The aggregate analysis is done over a variety of packages. The three forms of analysis are percent obsolete, the average number of newer releases per package and the time since the oldest new release. In other words the lag is the amount of time a distro had to move to a newer package.


Arch Linux

  • AUR - Arch User Repository



Install

See Box

10Gb is NOT enough for the root partition (where packages are stored).


  • archinstaller - Automated installation script for arch linux written in bash. It works similar to preseeding the debian installer d-i. OLD, still kinda interesting.


Network boot

Installer

  • Arch Anywhere ISO - contains an automated install script giving you the ability to install a fully custom Arch Linux system in minutes. Write the Arch Anywhere ISO to a CD or USB, boot it up from your computer or VirtualBox, and type 'arch-anywhere'. This will invoke the built-in dialog installer allowing you to install Arch Linux with a simple menu system.

Custom ISO

  • https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/archiso - a small set of bash scripts capable of building fully functional Arch Linux live CD/DVD/USB images. It is the same tool used to generate the official images, but since it is a very generic tool, it can be used to generate anything from rescue systems, install disks, to special interest live CD/DVD/USB systems, and who knows what else. Simply put, if it involves Arch on a shiny coaster, it can do it. The heart and soul of Archiso is mkarchiso. All of its options are documented in its usage output, so its direct usage will not be covered here. Instead, this wiki article will act as a guide for rolling your own live media in no time!


The difference between archboot and the archiso install media;

  • It provides an additional interactive setup and quickinst script.
  • It contains [core] repository on media.
  • It runs a modified Arch Linux system in initramfs.
  • It is restricted to RAM usage, everything which is not necessary like man or info pages etc. is not provided.
  • It doesn't mount anything during boot process.
  • It supports remote installation through ssh.



Other


Derivative


Debian



not in backports (as of oct 2012): vim 7.3, atop 1.26/1.27-3

  • antiX is a fast, lightweight and easy to install linux live CD distribution based on Debian Testing for Intel-AMD x86 compatible systems. antiX offers users the "antiX Magic" in an environment suitable for old computers. So don't throw away that old computer yet! It should run on most computers, ranging from 64MB old PII 266 systems with pre-configured 128MB swap to the latest powerful boxes. 128MB RAM is recommended minimum for antiX. The installer needs minimum 2.2GB hard disk size. antiX can also be used as a fast-booting rescue cd.

Ubuntu

Server

  • Ubuntu JeOS (pronounced "Juice") is an efficient variant of the Ubuntu Server operating system, configured specifically for virtual appliances. Currently available as a CD-ROM ISO for download, JeOS is a specialized installation of Ubuntu Server Edition with a tuned kernel that only contains the base elements needed to run within a virtualized environment.

Varieties




Articles

CentOS

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux is available only through a paid subscription service that provides access to software updates and varying levels of technical support."

"Since Red Hat Enterprise Linux is based completely on free and open source software, Red Hat makes available the complete source code to its enterprise distribution through its FTP site to anybody who wants it. Accordingly, several groups have taken this source code and compiled their own versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, typically with the only changes being the removal of any references to Red Hat's trademarks and pointing the update systems to non-Red Hat servers. Groups which have undertaken this include CentOS (the 8th most popular Linux distribution as of November 2011), Oracle Linux, Scientific Linux, White Box Enterprise Linux, StartCom Enterprise Linux, Pie Box Enterprise Linux, X/OS, Lineox, and Bull's XBAS for high-performance computing. All provide a free mechanism for applying updates without paying a service fee to the distributor.""

If going down the based-on-RHEL route, consideration needs to be paid towards the update delay of the distros when a new RHEL release comes out.

Fedora

  • Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (or EPEL) is a Fedora Special Interest Group that creates, maintains, and manages a high quality set of additional packages for Enterprise Linux, including, but not limited to, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL),CentOS and Scientific Linux (SL). EPEL packages are usually based on their Fedora counterparts and will never conflict with or replace packages in the base Enterprise Linux distributions. EPEL uses much of the same infrastructure as Fedora, including buildsystem, bugzilla instance, updates manager, mirror manager and more.

Mandriva


Oracle Linux

Quicker to release was FUD? corperate atmosphere of Oracle has a baaad relationship with the open source world in general [6]

SUSE

Gentoo

  • Funtoo Linux is a Linux-based operating system that is a variant of Gentoo Linux. Funtoo Linux is a meta-distribution that builds packages automatically from source code. Installation images are optimized for the best possible performance on the latest Intel and AMD hardware.

Chromium OS

Slackware


  • Slax is a modern, portable, small and fast Linux operating system with a modular approach and outstanding design. Despite its small size, Slax provides a wide collection of pre-installed software for daily use, including a well organized graphical user interface and useful recovery tools for system administrators. The modular approach gives you the ability to include any other software in Slax easily. If you're missing your favourite text editor, networking tool or game, simply download a module with the software and copy it to Slax, no need to install, no need to configure.

Bedrock Linux

  • Bedrock Linux is a Linux distribution created with the aim of making most of the (often seemingly mutually-exclusive) benefits of various other Linux distributions available simultaneously and transparently. If one would like a rock-solid stable base (for example, from Debian or a RHEL clone) yet still have easy access to cutting-edge packages (from, say, Arch Linux), automate compiling packages with Gentoo's portage, and ensure that software aimed only for the ever popular Ubuntu will run smoothly - all at the same time, in the same distribution - Bedrock Linux will provide a means to achieve this.

Solus

Pardus

  • Pardus
    • Pardus is a Linux distribution developed with support from the Turkish government. Pardus’ main focus is office-related work, including the use in Turkish government agencies. Despite that, Pardus ships in several languages. Its ease of use and availability free of charge spawned numerous communities throughout the world.

GoboLinux

NixOS

  • NixOS is a GNU/Linux distribution that aims to improve the state of the art in system configuration management. In existing distributions, actions such as upgrades are dangerous: upgrading a package can cause other packages to break, upgrading an entire system is much less reliable than reinstalling from scratch, you can’t safely test what the results of a configuration change will be, you cannot easily undo changes to the system, and so on. We want to change that.

gNewsense

GNU Linux-libre

  • GNU Linux-libre is a project to maintain and publish 100% Free distributions of Linux, suitable for use in Free System Distributions, removing software that is included without source code, with obfuscated or obscured source code, under non-Free Software licenses, that do not permit you to change the software so that it does what you wish, and that induces or requires you to install additional pieces of non-Free Software.

Sugar

Papyros

Repair

  • SystemRescueCd is a Linux system rescue disk available as a bootable CD-ROM or USB stick for administrating or repairing your system and data after a crash. It aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the hard disk partitions. It comes with a lot of linux software such as system tools (parted, partimage, fstools, ...) and basic tools (editors, midnight commander, network tools). It can be used for both Linux and windows computers, and on desktops as well as servers. This rescue system requires no installation as it can be booted from a CD/DVD drive or USB stick, but it can be installed on the hard disk if you wish. The kernel supports all important file systems (ext2/ext3/ext4, reiserfs, btrfs, xfs, jfs, vfat, ntfs), as well as network filesystems (samba and nfs).
  • Trinity Rescue Kit or TRK is a free live Linux distribution that aims specifically at recovery and repair operations on Windows machines, but is equally usable for Linux recovery issues. Since version 3.4 it has an easy to use scrollable text menu that allows anyone who masters a keyboard and some English to perform maintenance and repair on a computer, ranging from password resetting over disk cleanup to virus scanning


  • https://sourceforge.net/projects/ikkiboot/ - Ikki Boot is a Live CD multiboot which aims troubleshooting, disk partitioning, rescue, backup and restore data. It contains : SliTaz, GParted, Clonezilla and a lot of tools like TestDisk, Darik's Boot and Nuke and Super Grub Disk


  • http://www.supergrubdisk.org/ - Rescatux is a GNU/Linux rescue cd (and eventually also Windows) but it is not like other rescue disks. Rescatux comes with Rescapp. Rescapp is a nice wizard that will guide you through your rescue tasks.



Anonymity

  • Tails is a live DVD or live USB that aims at preserving your privacy and anonymity. [8]

Networking

  • pfSense includes most all the features in expensive commercial firewalls, and more in many cases. The following is a list of features currently available in the pfSense 2.0 release. All of these things are possible in the web interface, without touching anything at the command line.

Telephony

Security

  • Whonix is an operating system focused on anonymity, privacy and security. It's based on the Tor anonymity network, Debian GNU/Linux and security by isolation. DNS leaks are impossible, and not even malware with root privileges can find out the user's real IP. Whonix consists of two parts: One solely runs Tor and acts as a gateway, which we call Whonix-Gateway. The other, which we call Whonix-Workstation, is on a completely isolated network. Only connections through Tor are possible. [9]
  • Qubes is an open source operating system designed to provide strong security for desktop computing. Qubes is based on Xen, X Window System, and Linux, and can run most Linux applications and utilize most of the Linux drivers.
  • Security Onion is a Linux distro for IDS (Intrusion Detection) and NSM (Network Security Monitoring). It's based on Ubuntu and contains Snort, Suricata, Sguil, Squert, Snorby, Bro, NetworkMiner, Xplico, and many other security tools. The easy-to-use Setup wizard allows you to build an army of distributed sensors for your enterprise in minutes!
  • BlackArch Linux is an Arch Linux-based distribution for penetration testers and security researchers. The repository contains 1344 tools. You can install tools individually or in groups. BlackArch Linux is compatible with existing Arch installs. For more information, see the installation instructions. Also, news are published on our blog site.

Data and media

See also Platforms#Storage

  • Turnkey: File Server - Simple Network Attached Storage. An easy to use file server that combines Windows-compatible network file sharing with an advanced web based file manager and includes support for SMB, SFTP and rsync file transfer protocols. The server is configured to allow server users to manage files in private or public storage. Based on Samba and AjaXplorer.
  • NAS4Free is an embedded Open Source Storage NAS (Network-Attached Storage) distribution based on FreeBSD. NAS4Free supports sharing across Windows, Apple, and UNIX-like systems. It includes ZFS v5000 , Software RAID (0,1,5), disk encryption, S.M.A.R.T / email reports etc. with the following protocols: CIFS/SMB (Samba v4.x), FTP, NFS, TFTP, AFP, RSYNC, Unison, iSCSI (initiator and target), HAST, CARP, Bridge, UPnP, and Bittorent which is all highly configurable by its WEB interface. NAS4Free can be installed on Compact Flash/USB/SSD key, Hard disk or booted from a LiveCD with a small usbkey for config storage.
    • portable ZFS
  • OpenMediaVault is the next generation network attached storage (NAS) solution based on Debian Linux. It contains services like SSH, (S)FTP, SMB/CIFS, DAAP media server, RSync, BitTorrent client and many more. Thanks to the modular design of the framework it can be enhanced via plugins. OpenMediaVault is primarily designed to be used in home environments or small home offices, but is not limited to those scenarios. It is a simple and easy to use out-of-the-box solution that will allow everyone to install and administrate a Network Attached Storage without deeper knowledge.


  • GeeXboX is a free and Open Source Media-Center purposed Linux distribution for embedded devices and desktop computers. GeeXboX is not an application, it’s a full-featured OS, that one can boot as a LiveCD, from a USB key, an SD/MMC card or install on its regular HDD. The GeeXboX distribution is lightweight and designed for one single goal: embed all major multimedia applications as to turn your computer into an HTPC. GeeXboX runs on x86, PowerPC and ARM devices.


  • forked-daapd - A re-write of the firefly media server (mt-daapd).
    • RPiForked-Daapd is a Raspberry Pi orientated iTunes server (DAAP server) made by Julian Blache, based on mt-daapd (Firefly). It's also a Roku server (RSP server). Unfortunately forked-daapd is no longer maintained upstream, so the packages available in the Debian repositories have a couple of issues.
  • KXStudio is a collection of applications and plugins for professional audio production. KXStudio provides Debian and Ubuntu compatible repositories and its own Linux Distribution based on Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS.
  • 64 Studio Ltd. produces Debian and Ubuntu releases specialising in multimedia and digital content creation.
  • RockStor - Advanced File Storage made Free and Easy. Linux based Network Attached Storage (NAS) appliance. Simple quick installation on a physical or virtual machine. Easy and highly functional management provided by web-ui. Enterprise filesystem features for everyone powered by BTRFS. Free and open source software [12]
  • Amahi is software that runs on a dedicated PC as a central computer for your home. It handles your entertainment, storage, and computing needs. You can store, organize and deliver your recorded TV shows, videos and music to media devices in your network. Share them locally or safely around the world. And it's expandable with a multitude of one-click install apps.
  • OpenELEC , nee XMBC, is an embedded operating system built specifically to run Kodi (formerly known as XBMC), the open source entertainment media hub. The idea behind OpenELEC is to allow people to use their Home Theatre PC (HTPC) like any other device you might have attached to your TV, like a DVD player or Sky box. Instead of having to manage a full operating system, configure it and install the packages required to turn it into a hybrid media center, OpenELEC is designed to be simple to install, manage and use, making it more like running a set-top box than a full-blown computer.
  • Squeezelite is a small headless squeezebox emulator for linux using alsa audio output and other platforms using portaudio. It is aimed at supporting high quality audio including usb dac based output at multiple sample rates including 44.1/48/88.2/96/176.4/192k/352.8/384kHz.

Audio/visual

KXStudio

  • KXStudio is a collection of applications and plugins for professional audio production. KXStudio provides Debian and Ubuntu compatible repositories and its own Linux Distribution currently based on Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS.

Applications: We offer our own custom set of applications and utilities for Linux and Windows. This includes a fully-featured audio plugin host, a JACK patchbay and more.

Plugins: We provide a wide range of open-source audio plugins and Linux ports. We also provide custom patched plugins to work better and/or support more features.

Repositories: Debian and Ubuntu compatible repositories are available. Use them to get extra applications and updates, or to upgrade to the KXStudio distribution.

AVLinux

  • AV Linux is a free custom shop modded and rodded 32bit+PAE computer Operating System designed to turn a regular old (or fairly new) PC or Intel Mac into an Audio/Graphics/Video workstation appliance. An appliance..? Yes, imagine your Workstation computer being as reliable as that old Frigidaire in the garage! AV Linux features a complete customized Debian Linux XFCE4 4.10 Desktop Environment with the added bonus of a handpicked selection of pre-tested and pre-configured Audio, Graphics and Video content creation software demonstrating the excellence of Open-Source and also includes many unique Commercial Demos. GA veritable treasure chest of Linux and Cross-Platform favourites are pre-installed, Ardour, Audacity, Blender, Cinelerra, Handbrake, Hydrogen, Kdenlive, LinuxDSP (demos), LMMS, Mixbus (demo), Openshot, Renoise (demo) and VLC Media Player are just the tip of the iceberg. AV Linux is distributed as a free LiveDVD ISO image that can be downloaded, burned and run from a DVD-R(W) copied and run from a USB Key or installed to a computer's hard drive.

Debian testing based distro that uses kxstudio

Ubuntu Studio

  • Ubuntu Studio - a free and open source operative system, and an official flavor of Ubuntu. Ubuntu Studio is the most widely used multimedia orientated GNU/Linux distribution in the world. It comes preinstalled with a selection of the most common free multimedia applications available, and is configured for best performance for the Ubuntu Studio defined workflows: Audio, Graphics, Video, Photography and Publishing.

Arch Linux

  • ArchAudio - the Arch Linux Pro Audio community! From offering a third-party package repository to debating recording techniques to discussing FFT, we aim to be a central point for everything related to working with audio on Arch Linux.

Dyne:bolic

  • Dynebolic - Free software operating system for media activists, artists and creatives. Dynebolic is as a practical tool for multimedia production: you can manipulate and broadcast both sound and video with tools to record, edit, encode and stream, having automatically recognized most device and peripherals: audio, video, TV, network cards, firewire, usb and more; all using only free software!

APODIO

  • APODIO is a GNU/Linux operating system containing audio, text-friendly, graphic and video tools. It can be used as a liveCD or be installed on a partition of your hard disk

Crossfade GNU/Linux

  • Crossfade GNU/Linux, the cross-platform digital DJ system for USB flash and portable hard drives. Crossfade GNU/Linux allows you to use a USB drive with your music collection to DJ on any modern PC (with an x86 or x86_64 CPU), including Apple Macs, using the DJ program Mixxx customized however you like. USB drives with Crossfade GNU/Linux installed on them show up in Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux as normal USB drives that music or any other data can be copied onto. Unlike ordinary USB drives, they can also be used to boot Crossfade GNU/Linux. After rebooting, the PC will be back to how it was before.

Crossfade GNU/Linux is setup with a realtime Linux kernel for optimal performance. It includes the Xfce graphical desktop environment, Midori web browser, and Clementine music player. It has a number of other programs for live musical performance including the Hydrogen drum machine, SooperLooper and Giada loopers, Guitarix electric guitar amplifier, Rakarrak guitar effects board, Ardour digital audio workstation, Audacity wave editor, and many LV2 and LADSPA audio effects plugins. Additionally, Crossfade GNU/Linux includes utilities that make it useful as a computer rescue system, such as the GParted partition manager, GNU GRUB bootloader, TestDisk data recovery program, FSArchiver filesystem backup program, and MATE Disk Usage Analyzer. Crossfade GNU/Linux is a Fedora® Remix containing software from sources other than Fedora, namely RPMFusion and PlanetCCRMA, as well as scripts and configuration specific to Crossfade GNU/Linux.

Planet CCRMA

  • Planet CCRMA at Home - a collection of free, open source software packages that you can add to a computer running Fedora 20, 21 or 22 or CentOS 5 to transform it into an audio/video oriented workstation. Here at CCRMA we use a consistent and well defined Linux environment for our daily work in audio and computer music and research. With the Planet CCRMA at Home package collection, you can easily install most of that environment on your own Linux system.

Fedora Jam

Pro-Audio Gentoo Overlay

  • proaudio - an overlay for the Gentoo GNU/Linux portage system. It provides a lot of software for professional audio usage, rt-sources and some other things not in official portage (yet). In most cases you will get the latest version of an app, with all possible features that are available. Also bleeding edge CVS and SVN ebuilds are available for many applications.

Slackermedia

Musix

Studio 13.37

openArtist

io GNU/Linux

  • http://io.gnu.linux.free.fr/ io GNU/Linux is a powerful operating system that will turn your computer into a state-of-the-art multimedia workstation. It is based on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution, built around the Enlightenment desktop environment and includes a wide range of the best open source applications suitable for audio, graphics, video production, and more... :)

Stagecraft OS

dead?

Wayland

  • Maui aims to offer an excellent desktop experience. Instead of forcing you to know every detail of your computer we expect you to turn it on, sit down and simply use it. Uses Qt 5, QtQuick and Wayland.

Gaming

  • live.linuX-gamers.net is a Linux live distribution: "boot 'n play". The idea is for you to be able to carry a decent amount of high-quality Linux games with you where ever you go for purposes of demonstration, gaming or parties. Your computer will remain completely unchanged as everything will run live.

Small

  • tomsrtbt - The most GNU/Linux on 1 floppy disk.
  • SliTaz is a free operating system providing a fully featured desktop or server in less than 35 MB. In Live mode SliTaz can run completely in RAM and boot from removable media such as a cdrom or USB key. The system is secure, stable and easy to use.
  • static linux is based on a hand selected collection of the best tools for each task and each tool being statically linked (including some X clients such as st, surf, dwm, dmenu).
  • Minimal Linux Live is a set of Linux shell scripts which automatically build minimal Live Linux OS based on Linux kernel and BusyBox. All necessary source codes are automatically downloaded and all build operations are fully encapsulated in the scripts. [14]


Science

Scientific Linux (SL)

Other

Custom

Static

Embedded

Clustering

to sort

  • Zentyal Server is a Linux small business server, that can act as a Gateway, Infrastructure Manager, Unified Threat Manager, Office Server, Unified Communication Server or a combination of them. These functionalities are tightly integrated, automating most tasks, avoiding mistakes and saving time for system administrators.
  • SME Server is a leading Open Source distribution for small and medium enterprises. It is a simple, powerful, secure Linux server for networking and communicating, used by thousands of individuals, companies and organizations all over the world. SME Server provides a friendly, free alternative to expensive proprietary software, standing apart from the competition by shipping with most common functionality preconfigured, and features a number of popular additional enhancements in the form of downloadable Contributions.





BSD


386BSD

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/386BSD - sometimes called "Jolix", is a discontinued free Unix-like operating system based on BSD, first released in 1992. It ran on PC-compatible computer systems based on the 32-bit Intel 80386 microprocessor. 386BSD innovations include role-based security, ring buffers, self-ordered configuration and modular kernel design. The BSDs for PC descend from it.

FreeBSD


OpenBSD

NetBSD

PC-BSD

DragonflyBSD

Darwin

Open Solaris forks

SmartOS

  • SmartOS unites four extraordinary technologies to revolutionize the datacenter: ZFS + DTrace + Zones + KVM. These technologies are combined into a single operating system, providing an arbitrarily-observable, highly multi-tenant environment built on a reliable, enterprise-grade storage stack.

NeXTSTEP

EdgeBSD

Other

GNU System

  • GNU - offers a Unix-compatible system that would be 100% free software. Not 95% free, not 99.5%, but 100%. The name of the system, GNU, is a recursive acronym meaning GNU's Not Unix—a way of paying tribute to the technical ideas of Unix, while at the same time saying that GNU is something different. Technically, GNU is like Unix. But unlike Unix, GNU gives its users freedom. Completely free system distributions (“distros”) meeting this goal are available today, many using the Linux-libre kernel (the relationship between GNU and the Linux kernel is described more fully elsewhere). The GNU packages have been designed to work together so we could have a functioning GNU system. It has turned out that they also serve as a common “upstream” for many distros, so contributions to GNU packages help the free software community as a whole. Naturally, work on GNU is ongoing, with the goal to create a system that gives the greatest freedom to computer users. GNU packages include user-oriented applications, utilities, tools, libraries, even games—all the programs that an operating system can usefully offer to its users.
  • Guile is an interpreter and compiler for the Scheme programming language, a clean and elegant dialect of Lisp. Guile is a library designed to help programmers create flexible applications. Guile is an efficient virtual machine that executes a portable instruction set generated by its optimizing compiler, and integrates very easily with C and C++ application code. In addition to Scheme, Guile includes compiler front-ends for ECMAScript and Emacs Lisp (support for Lua is underway), which means your application can be extended in the language (or languages) most appropriate for your user base. And Guile's tools for parsing and compiling are exposed as part of its standard module set, so support for additional languages can be added without writing a single line of C.

Hurd

Other

See also Computing#Operating system

Plan9

Unix done 'better'. Ideas from Plan 9 made it into Linux, like more things being files.

"In Plan 9, each process has its own filesystem tree, and other programs can expose themselves to this process as file servers, meaning that data internal to the programs can be accessed via the same read, write, delete, etc. calls as files. For example, when running under rio, the Plan 9 window system, the current window contents are available at /dev/window and you can write draw calls to /dev/draw to do graphics."



Inferno

Minix

Other


FreeDOS

  • FreeDOS is a free DOS-compatible operating system that you can use to play classic DOS games, run legacy business software, or develop embedded systems. FreeDOS is basically like MS-DOS, but better!

Redox

Other

  • OS/2


http://gunkies.org/wiki/Gordon_Letwin_OS/2_usenet_post







Live Distro

Creating an ISO

  • http://wiki.osdev.org/Mkisofs - mkisofs is effectively a pre-mastering program to generate the iso9660 filesystem - it takes a snapshot of a given directory tree, and generates a binary image which will correspond to an iso9660 filesystem when written to a block device

Bootable ISO

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Torito_(CD-ROM_standard) - an extension to the ISO 9660 CD-ROM specification. It is designed to allow a computer to boot from a CD-ROM. It was announced in November 1994 and first issued in January 1995 as a joint proposal by IBM and BIOS manufacturer Phoenix Technologies.


Wait, don't do this automatically and at once! Isohybrid should be run only once, and many iso files are already treated before uploading to the internet. The Ubuntu iso files are already treated with isohybrid. Use isohybrid only, if the USB drive does not boot after installing using mkusb. Run fdisk on the file. If it shows anything meaningful, it is hybrid.



  • ISOLINUX - a (syslinux) boot loader for Linux/i386 that operates off ISO 9660/El Torito CD-ROMs in "no emulation" mode. This avoids the need to create an "emulation disk image" with limited space (for "floppy emulation") or compatibility problems (for "hard disk emulation").


CD

USB



prep

sudo fdisk /dev/s[XX]

     b  W95 FAT32 

sudo mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/s[XX1] -n [drive-label]

Single image boot

dd
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdx
  # wipe a device with all zeros

sudo dd bs=4M if=/path/to/manjaro.iso of=/dev/sd[drive letter]
  # not including number

sudo dd if=~/Desktop/linuxmint.iso of=/dev/sdx oflag=direct  bs=1048576
  # copy an iso file straight to a device How to install Linux Mint via USB, 1MiB at a time
Utils
  • UNetbootin allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions without burning a CD. It runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. You can either let UNetbootin download one of the many distributions supported out-of-the-box for you, or supply your own Linux .iso file if you've already downloaded one or your preferred distribution isn't on the list.









  • Rufus - a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc.



  • NetbootCD is a Linux live CD based on Tiny Core Linux. The live CD allows the user to download and run one of several Linux netboot installers, which can install a full GNU/Linux system with only a hard drive and Internet connection.


Multi-boot



Utils
  • MultiBootUSB - a software / installer which allows user to install multiple Live Linux Distros in to a single USB drive / Pendrive / Flash drive and able to boot from it. USB can be tested without reboot using inbuilt QEMU. Uses syslinux.





  • YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Integrator), is the successor to our MultibootISOs. It can be used to create a Multiboot USB Flash Drive containing multiple operating systems, antivirus utilities, disc cloning, diagnostic tools, and more. Contrary to MultiBootISOs which used grub to boot ISO files directly from USB, YUMI uses syslinux to boot extracted distributions stored on the USB device, and reverts to using grub to Boot Multiple ISO files from USB, if necessary. Windows.
    • out of date in AUR. home page doesn't have Linux version currently, too broken apparently.

Windows utils

  • LinuxLive USB Creator is a completely free and open-source software for Windows only. It has been built with simplicity in mind and it can be used by anyone. All you have to do is to pick up a Linux in the list and give it a try.
  • RMPrepUSB - allows the Windows user to easily and quickly 'roll their own' multiboot USB drive. It allows the user to quickly test, partition, format, install a boot manager, extract or copy files and then test a multiboot (aka multipass) USB bootable drive. It can also make or restore an image and much more. Multiboot 'point-and-shoot' utilities like YUMI or XBOOT are excellent, however they don't support every different ISO or image. You will learn too enjoy making your own personal multiboot drive using RMPrepUSB!


Persistence

Testing

qemu-system-x86_64 -m 512 distro.iso