Linux on bootable CDs -- the most technology-related fun I've had

Of all my various projects over the past year, documented here and on This Old PC and This Old Mac, the most fun so far has been the discovery and use of bootable-CD versions of Linux. I've got about a half-dozen burned so far, with a few more than that ready to try. I still like Knoppix and Ubuntu and was intrigued by Damn Small Linux, but it's Puppy Linux that has worked the best -- it boots from the CD and then loads the entire OS and all apps into memory, so it's blindingly fast (in contrast to the bigger CDs, which are less so).

I'll do a giant Linux link dump later today, but for now, here's this list of all the known CD-bootable Linux flavors.

The one thing you have to be able to do is download the .iso images (faster connections are better, of course) and then make CDs out of them. It's not as easy as it should be. If you have Nero (a real CD-making program), you can do it, but with naked Windows, it's not possible without a helper application. From the Knoppix help pages, I learned how to use ISO Recorder, which is XP- and Vista-specific. I think the instructions that come on the Ubuntu Wiki pages are better because they cover everything from Windows 95 on forward, plus Mac OS X (good for Ubuntu's PowerPC distribution AND for making a PC-compatible disc, by the way) and even Linux itself.

Of course Ubuntu will send you a free CD, and just about every Linux CD and DVD is available on the Web very cheaply. Knoppix, for one, offers this extensive list of places that sell Linux CDs and DVDs, many of which go for $2 or less each. The best thing, though is a fast connection, your own CD or DVD burner, and a big stack of blanks. (I'm headed to Frys to replenish my supply.)

Once you can burn your own discs, you're well on your way to sampling all that the many Linux distributions have to offer -- and you can really find what works best with your hardware, your work ... and you.

And did I mention that my favorite app of the day is Abiword, available for Windows, Linux and OS X, and way, way lighter in resources than Word, but able to create compatible files nonetheless.