Puppy Linux (or derivative) for old machines?

I haven't used this one much, but it certainly seems like it (or a derivative thereof) might be useful for aging computers. It has udev scripts that let you mount external drives without HAL (kind of like Vector's VLHot but less crappy); it's light, it's fast, it's easy to install, and it has a ton of simple graphical config utilities. And it can do pretty much anything that a novice user would want. In general it looks absolutely perfect for old computers.
There are two big problems I can see with it though.
1. It's far too cutesy. It doesn't look "unprofessional" or "cobbled together with duct tape", it looks like something designed by kids for kids. Which would go over fine with kids, but not so much with less computer savvy adults, I'd think. Nobody likes to have their intelligence insulted, and IMO that's what the branding does.
I figure it would be possible to strip out some of the more gratuitous puppy branding, but I'm not sure exactly how right now. I'd have to get familiar with the puplet creator scripts (apparently called "Woof", because Barry Kauler had to make it fit with the general theme I guess). Anyway, I don't think this should present *too* huge an obstacle.
The other though...
2. Portions of the Puppy community appear to be nuts. And I don't mean "we stand by our tradition of running outdated software as root" nuts. I mean just standing there when community members send bloody THREATS to people who dare criticize Puppy Linux, and then accusing the critics of being delusional when they complain to the community. That's unacceptable. If I create a Puppy-based live CD, I don't want users to wind up with a community like that for support, because it will at best fail to provide.
That could be somewhat harder to work around. Does anyone here know which Puppy-related forums are the sanest of the lot, if any?
More importantly, is messing with this distro a smart move, or will it turn out to be really, really dumb?

Gullible Jones wrote:
Hmm hadn't thought of AntiX. Last I used it, it was very kludgy IIRC, perhaps it's improved by now...
(Edit: still kludgy. But then, so is Linux in general isn't it. )
Ubuntu and Fedora don't look "cobbled together with duct tape", but most distros do.
Slitaz is one fun little distro. It's still young but quite polished.
Edit: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/index.php?f=35
TinyMe
Lubuntu
Last edited by karol (2010-08-09 02:55:52)

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Drawbacks:
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1. Subject to server failure or due to non-payment of your hosting account, it can be suspended.
2. Subject, due to lack of security on your part, to being attacked and hacked/erased.
Advantages:
1. In case of house fire, etc. your data is safe.
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1. Cloud storage can only be quasi-possessed.
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Can I use the harddisk that I used for Time Machine on my previous computer on my new computer without deleting the old back-ups?

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http://pondini.org/TM/4.html
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1. Boot to the Tiger Install disk and run Disk Utility from under the Utilities menu.
2. Zero out the data for some protection against someone else recovering your data off the hard drive. If you're mildly paranoid then choose the 7-pass. If you think the FBI is after data on your hard drive, then use 35-pass.
3. Install Tiger OS X 10.4.3 normally.
4. Run through the Setup Assistant and create an account called "temp" and make the password "temp". Use obviously false personal information when required. I like to use Santa's address at the North Pole.
5. Connect it to the internet and install the 10.4.8 combo update. Feel free to install all the updates if you like.
You can sell it just like this and tell the new owner they can create a new User account and delete the temp account, or you can boot to Single-User Mode and type rm -rf /Users/temp followed by the Return key. This will remove the temp user folder. If you do this, then you'll want to do the following to re-activate Setup Assistant:
While you're still in Single-User Mode type these and press Return after every line.
1. mount -uw /
2. cd /private/var/db/netinfo
3. mv local.nidb local.old
4. rm ../.AppleSetupDone
After pressing Return at the end of the last line, shut down the computer and when the next owner turns it on the Setup Assistant will start, just like they brought it home from the store.
Remember, if an answer helped you, post back and let us know.

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I'm planning to get a new Macbook Pro, and upgrading my iMac in the near future. In making the big leap to Leopard, I am going to upgrade my router to at least the AEBS. But I'm not sure what the best way is to take advantage of the Time Machine function.
Here's my take on the situation:
Time Capsule
Pros: all in one solution
Cons: I'm stuck if one day I need a bigger drive, or need to replace it.
AEBS+USB drive
Pros: Easy way to upgrade/replace drive if needed
Cons: Extra device needed
Using a drive on my Linux fileserver
Pros: Easy way to upgrade/replace drive(s) if needed, can set up RAID1 for extra redundancy
Cons: Not officially supported, but apparently can use the "defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1" tweak to get this going.
Which would you do?

Assuming that the USB drive has been formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled)......
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I have changed my main computer and now i have no masters for many of my photo's, i still have the old machine. How can i move the masters over?

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Hallo,
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If they are referenced, then you need to locate the folder with the master image files on your old mac and to tranfer them to your new mac, and then to reconnect masters and versions.
If they are managed, then probably some permissions got corrupted, when you transfererd the library and you should use the Aperture Library First Aid Tools to repair the permissions and to repair the library. See this on how to repair permissions and library:
Aperture 3: Troubleshooting Basics: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3805
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To reconnect the version to the masters on your new mac:
open Aperture, then select the images that need reconnecting in the browser,
then select "File -> Locate referenced files" from the Aperture menu.
In the window that pops up select an image to reconnect in the upper part of the window and select the corresponding master image file in the lower part of the window. If both images do match, the reconenct button will become available. Click "reconnect all".
Good Luck
Post back if you have more questions.
Regards
Léonie

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