🚀 go-pugleaf

I dunno about newsgroups, but this book looks interesting to me.  It's 
called "Knoppix Hacks" and here's a customer review I found on Amazon 
about it:

Great book for sysadmins, November 11, 2004
Reviewer:	Mary Norbury-Glaser (Denver, CO USA)

The publishers' blurb on the back cover describes Knoppix as "a 
veritable Swiss Army knife in CD form". Knoppix Hacks by Kyle Rankin is 
no less astounding in revealing the hidden versatility and power 
inherent in this unassuming tool.
Most Linux players will recognize Knoppix even if they've never given it 
a whirl but this book goes beyond the simple "how to create and boot 
from a Knoppix Linux Live CD". Rankin displays the raw power that lies 
beneath the surface of simply running a clean distro of GNU/Linux free 
from fear of installation issues.
Proper Knoppix volumes are lacking in the wild, with mere chapters in 
general Linux books dedicated to larger issues for both the novice and 
the intermediate user. One or two Knoppix books are out there and one by 
Samuel Hart is in press (Knoppix Komplete) but what sets Knoppix Hacks 
apart is not the sheer dearth of books available on the subject but 
Rankin's skill in exposing the underutilized potential in the Knoppix 
tool set.

This book begins with a forward by Klaus Knopper, creator of Knoppix. 
It's always entertaining and enlightening to read a first hand account 
of some clever soul's chance involvement with an "experiment" that 
turned out so wildly successful and this is no exception. The "Knoppix 
Story" is engaging and leaves the reader with a sense of awe at the 
ingenuity of this dedicated and resourceful individual.
Rankin has collected a "who's who" of Linux hackers to contribute to 
this book: John Andrews, creator of Damn Small Linux; Fabian Franz, 
creator of FreeNX server; Alex de Landgraaf, creator of Morphix; Simon 
Peter, developer of klik; Wim Vandersmissen, creator of ClusterKnoppix 
and many others no less accomplished, all of whom have contributed to 
the future of free software/open source development.
As is expected with the O'Reilly Hacks series of books, the chapters are 
structured with clean typographical conventions identifying URLs, 
directory/folder/file names, code examples and excerpts, sample text 
delineation and cross-references. Tips and warnings are clearly 
identified with pushpin and screw graphics, respectively, and indented. 
There are a helpful number of tips without getting too overwhelming or 
annoying by breaking the flow of the text. The thermometer icons next to 
each hack indicate the level of expertise required: beginner, moderate 
and expert. Screen shots are placed where needed but again, the reader 
isn't left distracted by unnecessary filler.
The nine chapters cover hacks ranging from beginner to expert: Boot 
Knoppix, Use your Knoppix Desktop, Tweak Your Desktop, Install Linux 
with Knoppix, Put Knoppix in Your Toolbox, Repair Linux, Rescue Windows, 
Knoppix Reloaded and Knoppix Remastered. The book includes a CD with 
v.3.4 of Knoppix (3.6 having just been released but the author wisely 
chooses to stay with the tried, true and debugged version).
The first two chapters are pitched to beginners, with Chapter 1, Boot 
Knoppix, leaping directly into downloading Knoppix and creating a 
bootable CD. It then covers "cheat codes" - options passed at the boot: 
prompt to work around hardware detection and support failures. Tweaking 
X settings, desktop and laptop scenarios, language settings and 
optimizing the Knoppix CD are also included here. Chapter 2 introduces 
details of the KDE desktop and encourages the reader to become familiar 
with the Knoppix desktop, the applications included and connecting to 
the Internet (even via GPRS over Bluetooth!).
Chapter 3 concentrates on saving settings and documents, using Knoppix 
as a kiosk or terminal server to boot multiple computers over a network 
from the same Knoppix CD, and how to use the live installer feature to 
add extra packages directly to ramdisk.
Chapter 4 covers the inevitable situation when you will find yourself 
using Knoppix so often that you decide to install it onto your hard 
drive. Rankin includes single and dual boot system installs.
Chapter 5, Put Knoppix in Your Toolbox is where admins should head. The 
full list of 15 indispensable hacks in this chapter include running 
remote desktops via rdesktop or xvncviewer, running X remotely with 
FreeNX, browse Windows shares, create an emergency router, emergency 
file or web server, wardriving with Knoppix (including how to capture 
GPS coordinates along with data!), audit network security, check for 
root kits, collect forensics data, clone hard drives, wipe hard drives, 
test hardware compatibility, and copy settings to other distributions.
Repair Linux in Chapter 6 is for those of us who spend a lot of time 
"breaking" things in the course of experimenting and need to recover the 
system. Rankin shows hacks for repairing both lilo and grub, how to: 
back up and restore the MBR, find lost partitions, resize linux 
partitions, repair damaged file systems, recover deleted files, rescue 
files from damaged hard drives, backup and restore, migrate to a new 
hard drive, create Linux software RAID, reset Linux passwords, repair 
Debian and RPM packages, and copy a working kernel. We will always break 
something along the way and these hacks help minimize the frustration.
Chapter 7, Rescue Windows...well, need I say more?? Put these hacks into 
practice and you'll probably be using them every day. Use Knoppix to: 
fix the Windows boot selector, backup files and settings, write to NTFS, 
resize Windows partitions, reset lost NT passwords, edit the Windows 
registry, restore corrupted system files, scan for viruses and download 
Windows patches securely. A must for any systems administrators with 
ubiquitous Windows machines lurking everywhere.
Knoppix Reloaded, in Chapter 8, takes on Knoppix variants Morphix, 
Gnoppix, Mediainlinux, Freeduc, Damn, Small Linux, INSERT, L.A.S. Linux, 
Knoppix-STD, distccKnoppix, ClusterKnoppix, Quantian, GIS Knoppix and 
KnoppMyth. There is also a well-deserved pitch at the conclusion of this 
chapter to become a Knoppix developer and contribute to the ongoing work.
The final chapter includes 7 hacks that help the reader create their own 
customized Knoppix CD. Knoppix Remastered walks the reader through the 
steps of customizing and personalizing a live CD.

This is one of the most fun books I've read in a long time. A few of the 
easier hacks can be found on Knoppix.net or elsewhere but I think Rankin 
has managed to put the majority of Knoppix related material in one book 
that could be subtitled the "First Knoppix Manual". The admin hacks, in 
particular, will add a whole new arsenal of Knoppix wonders to an 
admin's repertoire. Kudos to O'Reilly for publishing such an outstanding 
volume, to Rankin for compiling some damn useful material and to 
MacGyver for inspiring many of us to look for simple solutions to 
seemingly insurmountable problems.

Dr. Cajones wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Can anyone point me to a ng or other spot that might assist me with some
> questions and tasks using Knoppix?
> My only language is English.
> TIA.
> 
> dj
> 
> 
>