John H Goodwin

Linux related Administration resources.

Documentation

• Linux initial RAM disk (initrd) - Ever wonder what the heck an initrd is in Linux?  Read up and get a better understanding of what it is, why you need it, and a few lightbulbs will come on the next time you use Linux. 

 Creating Distros

• Building Tiny Linux Systems with BusyBox Part 1 - Part 1 of a 3 part series on building your own tiny distro using BusyBox to cut down on the size of your binaries.
  
• Building Tiny Linux Systems with BusyBox Part 2 - Part 2 of 3
• Building Tiny Linux Systems with BusyBox Part 3 - Part 3 of 3
  

 Distros

• ipcop - Preferences abound, and many people prefer m0n0wall, pfsense (based on m0n0wall), or some other distro, but I happen to like ipcop.  Not to mention I plan to try to get asterisk going on mine ontop of firewalling.
• Ubuntu - Reasonably easy Linux distro to learn based on debian.  If you've been meaning to give Linux a try, but are a bit intimidated, just learn how to use Synaptic, and you should be able to muddle through enough to make it a useful system.
• Puppy Linux - Great tiny distro.  It's awesome for lower end computers where you aren't stuck on using Windows.  Also, it can be slapped on a USB stick with qemu to have a portable virtual machine.
• Knoppix - Live CD designed as a rescue platform, but it's a decent overall platform too.  It can be installed to your hard drive if you want.
• SystemRescueCD - Bootable rescue CD with many tools on it to try to make disaster a little less painful.