Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition

Credits

About the Author

Kyle Rankin is a system administrator who enjoys troubleshooting, problem solving, and system recovery. He is also the author of Knoppix Pocket Reference, Linux Multimedia Hacks, and Ubuntu Hacks for O’Reilly Media. He has been using Linux in many different forms since 1998, and has used live CDs to demo Linux and troubleshoot machines—from DemoLinux to the LinuxCare bootable toolbox to Knoppix. He watched too much MacGyver during his developmental years, and carries a Swiss Army knife and a Knoppix CD with him at all times. Kyle is currently the president of the North Bay Linux Users’ Group in California (http://nblug.org).

Contributors

The following people contributed their writing, code, and inspiration to Knoppix Hacks:

• John Andrews, “Damn Small Linux” [Damn Small Linux], is the creator of Damn Small Linux. He has no formal IT or technical computer training. He likes to play with GNU tools and loves an efficient, open source desktop.

• Jacob Appelbaum Connect to the Internet with GPRS Bluetooth [Connect to the Internet with GPRS Bluetooth], “Wardrive with Knoppix” [Wardrive with Knoppix], and “Audit Network Security” [Audit Network Security], is a security professional whose interests include cryptography, covert channels of communication, tunneling, monitoring wireless devices, music, activism, and reading. He would also like to note that he went warflying with Knoppix, using kismet in the San Francisco bay area before the Tom’s Hardware people did it in Southern California.

• Bill Childers, “Knoppix on Intel Macs” [Knoppix on Intel Macs], is Director of Enterprise Systems for Quinstreet, Inc. He’s been working with Linux and Unix since before it was cool, and previously worked for Sun Microsystems and Set Engineering. In his spare time, he works with the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association as one of its chairmen, and enjoys playing with his children.

• Mark Cumming, “Full Protection with S-T-D” [Full Protection with S-T-D], is a partner and consultant for e-Secure Limited, a network security company based in Scotland. Mark splits his time between security testing and consulting for various levels of corporate and educational clients, as well as participating in a number of open source projects. He is the new owner of the S-T-D (Security Tools Distribution) project and is currently managing the development of the next version.

• Dirk Eddelbuettel, Ph.D., “Distribute Compiles with distccKNOPPIX” [Distribute Compiles with distccKNOPPIX], is the creator of Quantian and has been a long-time participant in free software/open source development. He lives and works in Chicago.

• Hilaire Fernandes, “Educate Yourself with Freeduc” [Educate Yourself with Freeduc], is a member of OFSET (Organization for Free Software in Education and Teaching) and a developer for Freeduc.

• Fabian Franz, “Run X Remotely with FreeNX” [Run X Remotely with FreeNX], studies computer science at the University of Karlsruhe and has been an active member of the Knoppix project since 2003. Fabian is the author of the Knoppix live-software installation program and does research in several fields of live-CD technology. In 2004, Fabian created the FreeNX server as a full, free-terminal server application, which uses the open source core components of the NX X compression technology.

• Alex Garbutt, “Install Gentoo with Knoppix” [Install Gentoo with Knoppix], is a 22-year-old computer science and engineering major at the University of California, Davis.

• James Greenhalgh, “Distribute Compiles with distccKNOPPIX” [Distribute Compiles with distccKNOPPIX], is a partner and developer for Open Door Software Inc., a Linux service corporation in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. James manages varying tasks, ranging from bookkeeping to database administration and SQL programming. His first experience with Linux was in 1994 while attending York University in Toronto. He has been running Debian Unstable since 2000.

• Alex de Landgraaf, “Master Morphix” [Master Morphix], “Morph Morphix” [Morph Morphix], and “Auto-Build Morphix Modules MapLab Tutorial Map” [Auto-Build Morphix Modules MapLab Tutorial Map], is an AI student at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and parttime code monkey at the web design company AddMissions. A relative newcomer to free software/open source software, Alex’s motto is to be as lazy as possible, but not lazier than that. He started Morphix in early 2003 and he believes the production of flexible live CDs is the way toward solving annoying problems (and monopolies).

• Georges Khaznadar, “Educate Yourself with Freeduc” [Educate Yourself with Freeduc],is a teacher of physics and chemistry at Lycée Jean Bart in Dunkerque, France. He is a member of OFSET, the Organisation for Free Software in Education and Training.

• Matthias Mikule, “INSERT Security Here” [INSERT Security Here], is the creator of INSERT. He finished his diploma thesis in theoretical physics, “Numerical analysis and simulation of a socio-dynamic group model,” at the Universitat Stuttgart in 1996. He is the co-owner of Inside Security IT Consulting GmbH.

• Simon Peter, “Point-and-Klik to Install Applications” [Point-and-Klik to Install Applications], has been using Knoppix for years and is the initial developer of klik. At the time of this writing, he is conducting research on economic and business implications of open source software and Nanocompetition, just after having completed his studies of economics and management at Witten/Herdecke (Germany), Purdue, and Harvard University. He can be reached at http://www.simon-peter.de.

• Karl Sigler (a.k.a. t1ck_t0ck), “Full Protection with S-T-D” [Full Protection with S-T-D], has been teaching information security for nearly a decade and is currently a security instructor in Atlanta, GA. In his spare time, he is the creator/maintainer of the Knoppix-STD Linux distribution.

• Wim Vandersmissen, “Distribute the Load with ClusterKnoppix” [Distribute the Load with ClusterKnoppix], is a system/network administrator, and he has been using Linux for over ten years now and still likes to play with it. He is the creator of ClusterKnoppix.

• Jascha Wanger, “Download Local Area Security” [Download Local Area Security], has been a network and security consultant for the past ten years. At 22, Jascha began doing security work in Texas as co-owner of a systems integration firm. Jascha currently works with Local Area Consulting, where he holds the position of VP of Security Solutions. With his work, Jascha has forged new ground designing security solutions and compliance tools for HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. In his free time, Jascha enjoys collecting records (the vinyl kind) and rock art posters. Most of his free time is dedicated to his LocalAreaSecurity.com project.

Acknowledgments

First of all, I want to thank my wife, Joy, the real writer in the family, for supporting me through this process. It’s not easy to take so much time away from someone you love for a project like this. Thanks for understanding and helping me manage my priorities, particularly now that this book is at a second edition.

Thanks also to Fabian, who has helped answer questions from the very beginning and who has been a major contributor to the book, both in content and in critique. And thanks to all the other contributing writers who have helped tell their particular part of the Knoppix story. In true community spirit, thanks to Eaden McKee and the rest of the Knoppix.net forum for their excellent documentation, in particular the remastering instructions.

Extra thanks to Greg for making the original version of this book possible and to Brian and Tom for all of their work in editing the book. Also thanks to Wayne and Juan for assisting with the technical review. Thanks to all my friends for your continued encouragement, especially Jorge, whom I thought of whenever I wrote a system-recovery hack.

And of course, who can forget Klaus Knopper, the guy who started it all? Thanks for Knoppix; it has certainly saved me more than once. It’s a true testament to your ingenuity that Knoppix is so flexible and just plain useful that it has been used by so many other projects.