Make the Most of Today’s Smallest, Fastest Desktop Linux Distribution–Damn Small Linux!

Damn Small Linux (DSL) is a super-efficient platform for everything from custom desktops to professional servers. Now, DSL’s creator and lead developer have written the first definitive, practical guide to this remarkable system. The Official Damn Small Linux Book brings together everything you need to put DSL to work in just minutes. Simply learn a few essentials, boot the live CD-ROM, and master the rest...one step at a time, hands-on.

If you’re new to Linux, you can quickly discover how to use DSL to take your data on the road, safely running your programs and personal environment on nearly any computer. Easily adapt DSL to run on anything from an alternative device (Internet appliance, hand-held, diskless PC, or mini-ITX system) to an older PC that might otherwise be headed for landfill.

Use this book and CD-ROM package to

• Run DSL at blazing speed, from CD, USB pen drive, or directly from RAM

• Run DSL from your hard drive or in a virtual environment within Windows

• Add applications and create shareable extensions

• Customize and remaster DSL to create your own distribution

• Build a complete music and multimedia server

• Use Skype VoIP phone service in DSL

• Quickly set up an XAMPP Web server, complete with MySQL, PHP, and Perl, to host your personal Web pages

 CD-ROM Includes

• Several versions of Damn Small Linux that let you run DSL directly from the CD, a Windows desktop, a pen drive, or your PC’s RAM.

• Software packages (MyDSL extensions) including everything you need to create an Edna music server, Skype® VoIP calling client, multimedia picture frame, and tiny XAMPP Web server.

• Tools for rebuilding and remastering Damn Small Linux.

Your Practical, Hands-On Guides to Getting Real Results with Free Software

Every book in this series encourages and challenges you to advance in the free software world. Boot the accompanying live DVD or CD and watch the Linux system, applications, and content described in the book come to life. When you finish, you’ll know how to use, customize, and rebuild that open source software. Start as a novice, by trying out examples...and finish as a professional!

System Requirements

• Processor: 486DX (recommended Pentium I) or higher

• Memory: 32MB RAM or more (can run entirely in memory in 128MB RAM)

• Disk space: No hard disk space required to run from CD-ROM or USB thumb drive; 50MB minimum for frugal hard disk installs; 200-300MB recommended minimum for traditional hard disk installs

• Graphics: SVGA-capable card with monitor capable of 800x600 resolution

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 14 Ratings

It's seems to run on anything...however... - 2009-04-20
Reviewer Rating:
I had high hopes for DSL for my old X86 win98se machine.
1. It would not boot off the live cd, though win98 will boot off cd. on this machine.
2. It would boot and load using the boot floppy. I tried all the various installation methods in the book and I just could not install the boot loader on the hard drive.

3. I downloaded Puppy Linux and it installed on the hard drive as easy as win98se did and runs just fine.

I would say that "runs on anything...however" might be a better description.

A life saver - 2009-09-18
Reviewer Rating:
This little book - and the accompanying CD kept me online after both of my computers' operating systems crashed. With absolutely no experience with LINUX, I was able to go online and check my email and bank account, plus surf to my hearts' content, using the knowledge and information from this little book, or should I say, "This Damn Little Book?"

Damn Small Linux review - 2009-07-09
Reviewer Rating:
Interesting and informative. A good entry for a newbee to get his/her feet wet with Linux.Live CD helpful and convenient.

Excellent all around reference on Damn Small Linux and using Linux in general - 2009-10-27
Reviewer Rating:


I am a newcomer to Linux. In particular I needed to create a Linux distribution for a specialized purpose. I first found Christopher Negus's excellent "Live Linux CDs". Negus referenced Damn Small Linux and this book and I thought I'd give it a shot. Good move.

Christopher Negus takes third billing on "The Official Damn Small Linux" book in deference to its two primary developers (Robert Shingledecker and John Andrews), but it is clear that Negus is the guiding hand. The writing throughout reflect Negus's crisp, clear writing style.

The book is really well planned. The beginning chapters provide an overview of Damn Small Linux and its development, how to boot DSL (which is very interesting and showcases the versatility of DSL and using DSL applications, which are substantially different than those found in other distributions. Everything about DSL is oriented toward compactness.

Following chapters include using MyDSL to extend your DSL install with other functions and apps, using DSL apps, configuring and saving DSL settings,

There are four chapters just on alternative ways to install DSL. These are, in my opinion, among the most fascinating in the book because they show you how to install on flash drives, hard drives, running DSL embedded in Windows (virtualization). Next are two chapters on adding applications to your DSL install and how to remaster DSL.

The last third or so of the book is a series of projects, which I didn't find to be of more than passing interest, although the chapter on running DSL On mini-ITX and other alternative hardware is quite interesting.

Overall, this is an excellent book for learning about a specific distribution and Linux in general.

Jerry

Damn Small Linux Book & Disk - 2009-07-05
Reviewer Rating:
It may be a good book & product if you are a knowledgeable Linux user. For me, it's still too early to tell. I bought it to try to make a 400 MHz Toshiba 4090XDVD laptop (which Ubuntu & other distributions wouldn't run on or at least run acceptably) usable enough to donate to underprivileged folks and have made VERY S-L-O-W progress because this book seems to be written for Linux experienced people.

I am an experienced (IBM Mainframe, TRS-80 Assembler programmer, MSDos & Windows thru Vista Ultimate)PC user, but have no UNIX/Linux Experience. I bought "Linux for Dummy's" & have made some appreciable progress in making DSL work on the Toshiba thru what I've learned from DSL Book along with the "Linux for Dummy's" book. I've still not met my objective. The File system & how to effectively use it are my biggest challenges currently. That's not covered from a basic Windows user perspective.

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