Robs Programming Junk

This has to be one of the best distros for a boot and go scenario. I have a few notes about this I'd like to pass along. Do you have some java software you'd like to demo or run but don't want to install it at the clients site? Want to send them a running copy? Here is a nice trick. You'll need both a linux box and an XP box.

First, get yourself a copy of MagicISO (Windows XP) for hacking the ISO image.

Next, download the Java Runtime for linux. Run the install and have it extract out to a standalone directory.

Use MagicISO and bust open the ISO from DSL (Damn Small Linux). Copy over the entire Java directory to the root of the CD.

Now, you can simply do the same with your Java software. DSL has some really nice boot options for the opt directory or the mydsl directory to load in options. You can point these at cdrom to enable specific settings. Once you have this done you can then go in and hack the isolinux.cfg located in the /boot/isolinux directory on the CD. You can hard code the options setup on the disk and remove the standard DSL prompts.

Overall I was able to get a very small CD footprint (150 Megs) roughly. It also beats remastering the entire DSL setup. While this is an option it saves a lot of time with this approach.