This software is a Linux distribution designed for installation on USB sticks, providing a portable and customizable operating system that can be easily accessed from any computer.
Portable Linux is a distribution that's ideal for advanced users who want to use Linux and other operating systems through virtual PC. This software seeks to make Linux fast, portable, and the main operating system on USB devices. Designed as a Gentoo Linux binary release, it is configured to run smoothly on new and fast hardware, with automatic hardware configuration and scalable hardware configuration profiles.
Portable Linux's hardware configuration initiates a new /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, sets keymap and locale, mounts all partitions in writable mode in /mnt directory, and automatically uses swap partitions. If the swap partition is not found, the software will use the Windows swap file.
The kernel commandline option 'conf=x' launches an existing x name profile and creates a new auto-configured hardware profile at the boot process. The new profile is a virtual directory with all changes stored in /var/portable-conf/etc-x directory. If not in use, a user can delete this profile by deleting the directory. The 'fstab' kernel commandline option starts file system auto-configuration if the existing configuration profile is selected.
If users want to disable Portable Linux functions, they can add 'nodetect' option to the kernel commandline or 'rm /etc/runlevels/boot/PortableConfig.' If users face booting problems with USB, they can use the Portable Linux DVD instead to run the installed system from their USB devices.
Users should avoid modifying users, runlevels, installing or uninstalling applications when a configuration profile is selected, except they are well experienced in doing so. Every other thing (including installing and uninstalling applications) is Gentoo-compatible, so users can read Gentoo documentation.
The Portable Linux 1.0 Live DVD uses unionfs, which may cause instability and IO and too many file open errors. Therefore, it is recommended to use it only for installation. It may not work well on some virtual PCs, maybe because it uses different processor instruction set than other popular distributions. Users can check the Minimum hardware requirements section for further information.
To install it, users need to install it on any minimum writable partition of 6GB capacity. The installer uses /etc/PortableConfig/lilo-install.conf for boot menu. Linux is the only option that will boot from the target device by default. Users can edit /etc/PortableConfig/lilo-install.conf or create their boot menu options after installation.
Regarding pen drive speed, the pen drive writing and reading speed are slower than hard drive. However, the pen drive has no seek time, so running from the pen drive is noticeably faster than running from the hard drive. Unfortunately, the write process will slow down everything, so the /tmp directory is mounted to memory. The first kernel loading process is generally slow on some computers, depending on BIOS. Besides, the USB is slow until the USB driver is loaded.
The software requires a minimum hardware requirement of Pentium2 processor with SSE2, 256M RAM, PCI or PCI-E mainboard with ACPI BIOS. If users face invalid instruction errors during the boot process, it means that the processor is too old and not supported by Portable Linux.
Portable Linux's hardware configuration initiates a new /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, sets keymap and locale, mounts all partitions in writable mode in /mnt directory, and automatically uses swap partitions. If the swap partition is not found, the software will use the Windows swap file.
The kernel commandline option 'conf=x' launches an existing x name profile and creates a new auto-configured hardware profile at the boot process. The new profile is a virtual directory with all changes stored in /var/portable-conf/etc-x directory. If not in use, a user can delete this profile by deleting the directory. The 'fstab' kernel commandline option starts file system auto-configuration if the existing configuration profile is selected.
If users want to disable Portable Linux functions, they can add 'nodetect' option to the kernel commandline or 'rm /etc/runlevels/boot/PortableConfig.' If users face booting problems with USB, they can use the Portable Linux DVD instead to run the installed system from their USB devices.
Users should avoid modifying users, runlevels, installing or uninstalling applications when a configuration profile is selected, except they are well experienced in doing so. Every other thing (including installing and uninstalling applications) is Gentoo-compatible, so users can read Gentoo documentation.
The Portable Linux 1.0 Live DVD uses unionfs, which may cause instability and IO and too many file open errors. Therefore, it is recommended to use it only for installation. It may not work well on some virtual PCs, maybe because it uses different processor instruction set than other popular distributions. Users can check the Minimum hardware requirements section for further information.
To install it, users need to install it on any minimum writable partition of 6GB capacity. The installer uses /etc/PortableConfig/lilo-install.conf for boot menu. Linux is the only option that will boot from the target device by default. Users can edit /etc/PortableConfig/lilo-install.conf or create their boot menu options after installation.
Regarding pen drive speed, the pen drive writing and reading speed are slower than hard drive. However, the pen drive has no seek time, so running from the pen drive is noticeably faster than running from the hard drive. Unfortunately, the write process will slow down everything, so the /tmp directory is mounted to memory. The first kernel loading process is generally slow on some computers, depending on BIOS. Besides, the USB is slow until the USB driver is loaded.
The software requires a minimum hardware requirement of Pentium2 processor with SSE2, 256M RAM, PCI or PCI-E mainboard with ACPI BIOS. If users face invalid instruction errors during the boot process, it means that the processor is too old and not supported by Portable Linux.
What's New
Version 1.0: N/A