A LiveCD is an operating system (usually containing other software as well) stored on a bootable CD or DVD that can be executed from it, without installation into permanent memory, such as a hard drive. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it. The system returns to its previous OS when the LiveCD is ejected and the computer is rebooted. It does this by placing the files which typically would be stored on a hard drive, into temporary memory, such as a ram disk. This however does cut down on the RAM available to applications, reducing performance somewhat.
KNOPPIX is a bootable Live system on CD or DVD, consisting of a representative collection of GNU/Linux (A free computer operating system for a large variety of architectures) software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a productive Linux system for the desktop, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos.
Linux Live CDs are becoming the preferred choice in getting away from Windows. Some of the advantages of Linux are:
- It is very stable and doesn't crash
- It is immune from Windows viruses, spyware, and worms
- It is inexpensive and can be run on standard PC hardware
- It is getting better and easier to use all the time
Linux Live CDs range from emergency rescue and system diagnostics CDs to multimedia oriented projects that transform a diskless or OS-less computer into a full home theatre. Each live CD has a unique feature, a merit and a niche to fill. For example The Auditor Security Collection includes tools for foot-printing, analysis, scanning, wireless, brute-forcing, and cracking.
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