Please meet knoppix

Use a bootable knoppix CD to start your computer. I want you to note a few features of the resulting environment, and to run a few programs that will be of use now and in the future.

When knoppix boots you will find yourself in a graphical (gui) environment. It looks something like this (the face of it changes from version to version):

Knoppix is self-contained and doesn't need to use or touch your hard drive. Many people with normal single-boot Windows machines use knoppix to operationally convert their machines to linux on a temporary basis-- no linux  installation needed. When finished they log out, remove the CD, reboot, and find themselves back in their unaltered Windows environment. With knoppix, the whole environment is held in 1) RAM memory and 2) the CD. The drawback is that, since memory is volatile and CD read-only, nothing you do is persistently saved (where could it be?) so when you next run knoppix any configurations you set or files you edited are gone. (You can compensate for this in a variety of ways if you supply writable media-- a floppy, USB keychain drive, or some hard disk space.)

You can vary the way knoppix boots by supplying "cheat code" instructions during boot. There is a "boot:" prompt that appears on screen at the outset of the boot process and waits for your keyboard input. That's where you type in your cheat codes. They guide and alter what happens as the machine boots. There are close to 100 such codes, listed in the file knoppix-cheatcodes.txt on the knoppix CD. To issue a code, you type the word "knoppix" followed by the code's particular keyword, then press enter, at the "boot:" prompt. To issue two or more, separate them by spaces. For example, to tell knoppix to read configuration information from a floppy disk,

boot: knoppix floppyconfig

To additionally tell it to use French and low resolution,

boot: knoppix floppyconfig lang=fr screen=800x600

Do the following

Boot knoppix. Turn on your machine and without delay open the CD drive, put the knoppix CD in, and close it. When knoppix has fully booted you will see a complete desktop on the screen. At that point press the button on the CD drive to try ejecting the CD. It will not eject because knoppix will need it continually throughout the session.

Close the Konqueror application window

Explore the "K" button (similar to the "Start" button in Windows)

Run a graphical editor
K/Editors/KWrite
Write something into the editor
Save it to a file, on a floppy if you have one (otherwise to your "home directory" or "desktop;" note the floppy is not called "A" here)
Close KWrite

Open an a shell window (a shell is a command interpreter)
K/System/Shells/Bash (alternatively, the icon that looks like a terminal/monitor on the taskbar)
At the command prompt type "whoami" then press Enter Who are you?
At the command prompt type "su -" then press Enter. (su stands for "switch user")
At the command prompt type "whoami" then press Enter Who are you now? What, do you suppose, is the difference?
Exit the shell window: type "exit" then press Enter; alternatively press ctrl-D (do it twice to collapse the window)

Virtual Terminals
Press successively ctrl-alt-F1, then ctrl-alt-F2, ctrl-alt-F3, ctrl-alt-F4 (here, type "whoami" then press Enter), and finally ctrl-alt-F5

A File Manager
K/Home (personal Files)
In the "Location:" textbox replace "file:/home/knoppix" with "file:/" instead. Then click "mnt," then click "floppy." You will see the files on the floppy, including the one you saved there.
Close the file manager

The "Run Command" box
K/Run Command
In the "Command:" textbox, type "ethereal" or "kwrite" and press Enter
Close the Ethereal or KWrite application window.

Set up a Network Connection
K/KNOPPIX/"Network/Internet"/Network card configuration
You would answer "yes" to "Use DHCP broadcast?" in the resulting dialog, if automatic addressing (ie, dhcp) service is available within your network. Alternatively, "no" if you want to supply the needed setup information manually. In that case you must know that info, there are several items. First gather them from an outside source like network administrator or instructor, then supply them when asked by the dialog. They are IP address, network mask, broadcast address, default gateway, and nameserver address(es).

Save your configuration to a floppy for persistence next time you run knoppix
But first, let's change something very conspicuous in your configuration, so that when you restore your saved configuration you can tell unmistakably. Let's change the background picture.
Right click on desktop/Configure Desktop/Background/Picture (drop down list)/Sea of Conero/OK

Now, to save configuration including this new picture:
K/KNOPPIX/Configure/Save KNOPPIX configuration
5 items can be selected for saving, offered to you in a dialog. Select "Personal Configuration" then OK. Some of the other items like network and graphics subsystem won't be transferable to another machine with differing video card or network subnet addressing requirements. Saving those things is appropriate if your goal is to get back to where you now are, when next booting on this very machine. If you plan to boot on a different machine, only save "Personal Configuration." Here, please save only that. The next dialog asks you which disk or device to save to. Choose the floppy. Now that you've saved the current state of affairs, you're going to want to re-apply it next time you boot. The way to do so is to issue the floppyconfig cheat code at the boot: prompt. Like this:

boot: knoppix floppyconfig

So please do it now. Shut the system down: K/Logout /Restart Computer. Supply the above cheatcode during the restart when you get to the "boot:" prompt. Knoppix will proceed to boot. Notice which desktop background appears. When you get home, assuming you have a CD-bootable PC, boot it with the same CD and floppy in the drive. You should get just the same result at home as in class.

Replace the CD with a harddrive copy of it
The CD is slow, and you can't take it out while running knoppix from it. If you want to play a music CD while working, you have no drive. So, perhaps we could run knoppix from somewhere else instead and free the drive. From where?  From the hard disk. We'll make an exact, spitting image of the CD on the hard disk and, when we boot, turn knoppix's attention to that instead of the regular CD. This CD image will take the form of a file, as data on disks usually does. We'll give the file a ".iso" extension. You may have encountered files with that extension. They are containers (CDs are also containers) holding the same data as a CD. In order to do this, we need two things. First, we need a hard disk partition where we can write the file. It will need to be formatted as FAT32 or ext2 but not NTFS, because writing to NTFS with non-MS drivers is not considered reliable. (While you can't actually make the file on an NTFS partition, if you can once get it there you can use it.) We will assume that the first partition on your sole hard drive qualifies. Knoppix makes it available in a place in your filesystem called /mnt/hda1. Second, we need a software tool that can read the drive as a device and write the resultant data stream as a disk file. The tool is the dd utility. A third need is that we be allowed to write to the target partition, /mnt/hda1. There are several dimensions that separately control whether or not you'll succeed when you try to write. To accomplish that here, please:
1) find the "Hard Disk Partition (hda1)" icon on the desktop. Right click, and if there's a Mount option on the menu left click it. Then from the same menu left click Actions/Change read-write mode.
2) open a terminal using the taskbar icon (which looks like a terminal)
3) within the terminal issue the command "su -" to give yourself root privileges

Now please make a copy of the CD by issuing the following command:

dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/mnt/hda1/knoppix.iso

Reboot to use the hard drive copy of the CD and release the CD itself
K/Logout/Restart Computer
Knoppix shuts down and a reboot ensues. When the reboot reaches the "boot:" prompt, use the bootfrom cheat code as follows:

boot: bootfrom=/dev/hda1/knoppix.iso

At any time thereafter, press the eject button on the CDROM drive. It will eject because knoppix doesn't need it. It doesn't need it because it's using the other copy you put on the hard drive instead. That'll make it run a little faster, otherwise everything will be just the same.