They are actual distributions that include the kernel and modules necessary to make it run. They are limited only because the medium they are distributed on is read only. You can copy the same ISO to a usb stick and make it writable by adding persistence (see: pendrivelinux.com) and it is not any different from having it installed to a hard drive. You can install applications and save data.
You can work from a Live CD and save to a usb key using OpenOffice for example. The problem with Live CDs is their lack of speed. Some distributions like SystemRescueCD or Parted Magic do not need anything other than what is supplied on the disk. They are complete as they are because they have only one purpose and installing them would defeat their purpose. They are usually meant to run from a RAM disk. Live CDs are compressed versions of the installed distribution. The big difference is that Live CDs do not have users and user space configured. Some will have both Guest and Root accounts and even have passwords (usually the same thing or the reverse eg. toor) and other distros have only one user level, without a password. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_CD Roy By the way, are LIVE CDs classified as actual distributions or just > considered to be heavily-tweaked versions of 'real' distributions? > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux Users Group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit our group at http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup To unsubscribe from this group, send email to linuxusersgroup+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject.
