Success story - Kubuntu at school

[koo]

In Italy, where i live, computers are Microsoft-centric, both in the government and the school.
So I was delighed to see that Linux in general and Kubuntu in particular could make people applaud.
This is what happened: during a school lesson we needed to watch presentations, play videos, see dvds and so on. The computer we had used a bare installation of XP Pro, no codecs, no software... only the essential. So it would had been impossible to proceed... if I hadn't my usb key with Kubuntu, ffmpeg, OpenOffice and so on.
Well, apart from the fact that it worked, while Windows didn't, my classmates and teachers were really amazed by the beauty of the UI. Someone even asked my to give him a copy of the contents of the key!
Attached there is a sample image.

[Qqmike]

Re: Success story - Kubuntu at school

You can clone that flash drive, easily:
dd Command
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3090824.0
You do not have to read the first post (it's accurate and useful, but is a technical mess).
Jump to this: Reply #1:
EXPERIMENT #6: Cloning a bootable flash drive (ex.: Live persistent Kubuntu 7.10)

Just figure out the logistics. Maybe best to do it from another Kubuntu installation or from a Live Kubuntu CD. When you do it, the "new" flash drive--the one that will become the clone--need not be prepared in any way. If you use the dd command to clone the original, dd will copy every single bit from the original (source) to the target, and that will bring along the Master Boot Record, the partitions, the formats, etc. When finished, you can stick the clone in and re-boot with it.

For a 4 GB flash drive, it usually takes about 15 minutes on my machine to clone it. While working, the dd command will NOT give you any progress report, not until the end, but you can see the light on the flash drive blinking as it works along.

Just a thought.

[koo]

Re: Success story - Kubuntu at school

Thanks for your suggestion, I've already made a livesys.img with dd (since I had to make two-three copies) which I will dump as needed. If you ever need it, there is a way to know the progress of dd: send the USR1 signal to the process.

[Qqmike]

Re: Success story - Kubuntu at school

Thanks for the USR1 tip -- I made a note of it.

Also, as you probably know, the US DoD version, dcfldd (sourceforge; also included on Helix Live CD) shows progress.

[koo]

Re: Success story - Kubuntu at school

Actually I didn't know that tool; but I'll give it a try!

[pookito]

Re: Success story - Kubuntu at school

In Italy, where i live, computers are Microsoft-centric, both in the government and the school.
So I was delighed to see that Linux in general and Kubuntu in particular could make people applaud.
This is what happened: during a school lesson we needed to watch presentations, play videos, see dvds and so on. The computer we had used a bare installation of XP Pro, no codecs, no software... only the essential. So it would had been impossible to proceed... if I hadn't my usb key with Kubuntu, ffmpeg, OpenOffice and so on.
Well, apart from the fact that it worked, while Windows didn't, my classmates and teachers were really amazed by the beauty of the UI. Someone even asked my to give him a copy of the contents of the key!
Attached there is a sample image.

Dude, your story is totally amazing. I really do love it. Most people do not know about Linux, freedom and their choices. good post dude.