Fedora 10, a "Live" solution for One Laptop Per Child.

When One Laptop Per Child starts their next Give 1 Get 1 program on November 17th, there will be an option to purchase an upgrade that will allow users to run a standard Linux desktop based on Fedora 10, on their XO system (pronounced "ex - oh"). This special edition of Fedora 10 is an alternative for adults who may not find the child focused graphical interface called Sugar practical for daily use. With this "Live" release the Fedora Project is once again highlighting a fantastic feature unique to modern Linux distributions.

Linux distributions have been distributed on Live CDs or DVDs for several years, so the next step was to run "Live" from small Flash drives. Fedora, and other Linux distributions, have actually been able to run "Live" from drives for a couple of years. However, during this past year the level of reliability has very closely approached that of a "traditional" installation making it a very real, and extremely portable, option for daily use.

If your not sure what I mean by "Live" your not alone. It's one of the most innovative features of Modern Linux, but at the same time one of the most unknown. For those who haven't yet encountered anything except Microsoft Windows, or Apple's Macintosh, the usefulness of a "Live" operating system may not be immediately apparent.

If you're old enough, think back to the days of the Atari game cartridges. Now imagine if Microsoft Windows came on one of those cartridges and plugged into the back of your computer. Now imagine you can plug your cartridge into any computer and have it behave the same as when it's plugged into yours. This is essentially how a "Live" operating system behaves, except the old style cartridges have been replaced by modern USB Flash and SD Drives.

Live Drives are beginning to be more commonly used in both the business and private sectors, especially now that faster, more reliable SD Cards and USB Flash drives in sizes as large as 16, 32, and 64GB have come onto the market as this year has progressed. It seems that newer USB Flash Drive advancements and the evolution of the "Live" operating system have emerged almost in unison, allowing for a very nice performance boost within the latest "Live" technologies.

In the Business sector, when using "Live" Drives, employees are no longer tethered to a specific computer. If a computer crashes they simply move to another machine and continue uninterrupted, thus maintaining all important productivity levels. Linux is also far cheaper and without the licensing restrictions of Microsoft Windows or MAC OSX. This allows businesses to freely make as many copies as they need without paying outrageous licensing fees.

At home using a "Live" Drive means you can carry your computer with you anywhere. Just plug your Live Flash Drive into any computer and essentially turn it into your own.

If your looking for a more flexible computing option, there are several Linux distributions available to use in Live mode, including the extremely popular Ubuntu. Notable others include (in alphabetical order):
BlueWhite 64 (a pure 64 bit operating system)
Dyne:Bolic (strictly a "Live" multimedia distribution)
Fedora (always a front runner in newer computing technologies)
GoblinX (best known for being graphically exquisite)
GUFI (which attempts to take "Live" to an entirely new level)
Knoppix (the grandfather of Live distributions)
Zenwalk (very fast and stable)

More information about Fedora and One Laptop Per Child.

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