Knoppix Hacks by Kyle Rankin
From Wsms
This book is superseded by the 2nd edition see: Knoppix Hacks 2nd Edition
Knoppix Hacks
- 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools
by by Kyle Rankin
ISBN 0-596-00787-6
Rating: 3 out of 5 penguins
Review
Like all the O'Reilly hack books, Knoppix Hacks consists of a collection of recipes for carrying out a variety of tasks. Most of the recipes stand on their own, so you can use them without reading the rest of the book.
Since Knoppix is a live-boot CD, arguably the premier live-boot CD, you don't have to modify your system's hard disk in order to try out most of the actions in the book. This makes for a great environment for experimentation and learning. You have a sandbox in RAM where you can play with new concepts and commands without messing up your hard disk.
Pros
Cons
On the copyright page, my copy shows a printing date of 2005 and the printing history shows the first edition as having appeared in October 2004. I am writing this review in November 2008, over four years later. Most of my issues with the book have to do with various sections being out of date.
The Knoppix CD included with the book is Version 3.4. While it is sometimes handy to have an older Knoppix disk around to use with obsolete hardware, the current version of Knoppix is 5.1.1. The newer version has the distinct advantages of handling Windows ntfs files systems as well as Linux LVM.
Table of Contents
- Foreword
- Credits
- Preface
Chapter 1. Boot Knoppix
- Hack 1. Boot Knoppix on a Desktop
- Hack 2. Get Knoppix
- Hack 3. Use Knoppix Cheat Codes
- Hack 4. Speak Different Languages
- Hack 5. Free Your CD to Make Knoppix Run Faster
- Hack 6. Straighten Out Your X Settings
- Hack 7. Use Advanced Knoppix Cheat Codes
- Hack 8. Run Knoppix on a Laptop
- Hack 9. Explore Expert Mode
Chapter 2. Use Your Knoppix Desktop
- Hack 10. Explore the Desktop
- Hack 11. Customize the Desktop Look
- Hack 12. Get Office Work Done
- Hack 13. Configure Your Printer
- Hack 14. Use Peripheral Devices
- Hack 15. Have Fun and Play Some Games
- Hack 16. Rock Out with Knoppix Multimedia
- Hack 17. Connect to the Internet
- Hack 18. Connect to the Internet with GPRS Bluetooth
- Hack 19. Explore the Internet
- Hack 20. Get Help
Chapter 3. Tweak Your Desktop
- Hack 21. Create Persistent Knoppix Settings
- Hack 22. Use Your Linux Desktop Settings
- Hack 23. Use Your Windows Desktop Settings
- Hack 24. Make a Kiosk
- Hack 25. Network Boot Knoppix
- Hack 26. Develop Applications
- Hack 27. Use the Knoppix Live Installer
- Hack 28. Install Nvidia 3D Drivers
- Hack 29. Live Install Your Own Programs
- Hack 30. Point-and-Klik to Install Applications
- Hack 31. Create Your Own Klik Recipe
Chapter 4. Install Linux with Knoppix
- Hack 32. Explore the Knoppix Installer
- Hack 33. Install Knoppix as a Single-Boot System
- Hack 34. Install Knoppix on a Multiboot System
- Hack 35. Convert Knoppix to Debian Unstable
- Hack 36. Install Gentoo with Knoppix
Chapter 5. Put Knoppix in Your Toolbox
- Hack 37. Run Remote Desktops
- Hack 38. Run X Remotely with FreeNX
- Hack 39. Browse Windows Shares
- Hack 40. Create an Emergency Router
- Hack 41. Create an Emergency File Server
- Hack 42. Create an Emergency Web Server
- Hack 43. Run Other Emergency Services
- Hack 44. Wardrive with Knoppix
- Hack 45. Audit Network Security
- Hack 46. Check for Root Kits
- Hack 47. Collect Forensics Data
- Hack 48. Clone Hard Drives
- Hack 49. Wipe a Hard Drive
- Hack 50. Test Hardware Compatibility
- Hack 51. Copy Settings to Other Distributions
Chapter 6. Repair Linux
- Hack 52. Repair Lilo
- Hack 53. Repair Grub
- Hack 54. Kill and Resurrect the Master Boot Record
- Hack 55. Find Lost Partitions
- Hack 56. Resize Linux Partitions
- Hack 57. Repair Damaged Filesystems
- Hack 58. Recover Deleted Files
- Hack 59. Rescue Files from Damaged Hard Drives
- Hack 60. Backup and Restore
- Hack 61. Migrate to a New Hard Drive
- Hack 62. Create Linux Software RAID
- Hack 63. Migrate to Software RAID
- Hack 64. Migrate Software RAID 1 to RAID 5
- Hack 65. Add an Extra Drive to a Software RAID 5 Array
- Hack 66. Reset Linux Passwords
- Hack 67. Fix Broken Init Services
- Hack 68. Repair Debian Packages
- Hack 69. Repair RPM Packages
- Hack 70. Copy a Working Kernel
Chapter 7. Rescue Windows
- Hack 71. Fix the Windows Boot Selector
- Hack 72. Back Up Files and Settings
- Hack 73. Write to NTFS
- Hack 74. Resize Windows Partitions
- Hack 75. Reset Lost NT Passwords
- Hack 76. Edit the Windows Registry
- Hack 77. Restore Corrupted System Files
- Hack 78. Scan for Viruses
- Hack 79. Download Windows Patches Securely
Chapter 8. Knoppix Reloaded
- Hack 80. Master Morphix
- Hack 81. Gnoppix Gnome Gnirvana
- Hack 82. Pump Up the Volume with Mediainlinux
- Hack 83. Educate Yourself with Freeduc
- Hack 84. Damn Small Linux
- Hack 85. INSERT Security Here
- Hack 86. Download Local Area Security
- Hack 87. Full Protection with Knoppix-STD
- Hack 88. Distribute Compiles with distccKNOPPIX
- Hack 89. Distribute the Load with ClusterKnoppix
- Hack 90. Analyze Quantian
- Hack 91. Find GIS Knoppix on the Map
- Hack 92. TiVo Your Computer
- Hack 93. Contribute to Knoppix
Chapter 9. Knoppix Remastered
- Hack 94. Create a Customized Knoppix
- Hack 95. Trim the Fat
- Hack 96. Personalize Knoppix
- Hack 97. Keep Your Custom Disc Up to Date
- Hack 98. Automate Knoppix Remastering
- Hack 99. Morph Morphix
- Hack 100. Auto-Build Morphix Modules MapLab tutorial map
