PCQ Linux 2009 : Live on your machine

Welcome to the 2009 edition of PCQLinux which lets you run and experience a vast number of Linux capabilities without needing to be installed

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

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PCQuest has had a long tradition in bringing you the latest and greatest in technology. One of the endeavors that we have is also to make technology accessible not only by technical experts but also by people who would like to make better use of their time and learn how to use these new things. PCQLinux has been one such initiative that has endured over many years and has always been at the cutting edge of what can be offered to both novice and experienced Linux users. The philosophy of PCQLinux is that it offers something unique and cutting edge (such as the first distro to have a Super Computer install option to being able to install and customize your setup in the fewest clicks and more). But PCQLinux also offers something else - a detailed set of articles that explain everything that is unique and interesting in the distribution and how you can go ahead and make use of them. We take care to cater to the novice user of PCQLinux as well, so that they can try out the flavors without affecting their work.

Keeping up with this tradition, we bring to you the latest version of PCQLinux this month. PCQLinux 2009, as it is called, actually is very different from what we have offered you before. This time we offer you PCQLinux as a live DVD – in fact, FOUR live distributions. There are many reasons for doing this.

Try Linux out
The average computer user is usually quite resistant to working with anything new – especially something that feels as scary as Linux. So getting someone to install and use Linux by repartitioning their hard disk, running an OS install, figuring out Logical Volume Groups and other such scary sounding terms, and being extremely unsure whether the data on their hard disk has vanished or not is quite a task, and virtually impossible. This is why PCQLinux 2009 makes a lot of sense – people can try out a customized version of Linux targeted at the Indian audience without having to worry about all of this.

Scenarios
Over the many years of coming out with PCQLinux distributions, we realized that a one-size-fits-all type of distribution does not really make sense in the kind of stuff we were doing. Different people require different sets of things and need to be able to try them out without any hindrance. Installing a Linux distribution and getting your particular set of applications to work correctly can be a lesson in frustration sometimes. This time we wanted to give something that is already configured and running out of the box for different sets of target users so that these users will not need to do anything other than booting off the DVD. They will then get a distribution that makes most sense to them and can start working immediately with it. We've more-or-less achieved this other than in a single instance – which we will talk about in detail further down the line.

Portability
We also wanted to make PCQLinux 2009 portable. That is, you can use the Live distribution of your choice anywhere by simply taking the DVD with you. Any machine can be transformed magically (and temporarily) into a PCQLinux 2009 workstation by simply putting in the DVD and booting off it. Since the installs are customized for different segments of people, you can even convert the one that you want into a single CD or USB live and use only that anywhere and get access to the applications and desktop that you are used to – no matter what OS or applications are installed on the machine itself.

A gateway to the OSS world
For organizations that are considering using Open Source Software, the PCQLinux 2009 flavors provide an easy way to use and get used to the open source software world. Pilot groups of users can try out PCQLinux 2009 on their machines without disturbing what they have. Organizations can then get feedback from the users directly on the usage and decide whether they should use OSS (of course with many other considerations as well).

Linux has indeed come a long way and we strive to make it accessible to more people around the country. PCQLinux 2009 is the latest step in this task and we hope that you will not only find these flavors useful yourself but also make sure that others who may find it useful try it out too.

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