Lightweight Linux distro to do special task?

kristofbs

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Hello,

I am newby to linux so please forgive if it is a stupid question. I have an iso which has to be burned fully to a local disk, like dd does. The problem is that, there are many computers, no PXE is option, and I need to find or create something which boots from a usb which contains the iso file, and burns it into the hard drive, or shows a list of hard drivers where to burn the iso. This should be a simple tool to allow users to use it without special linux knowledge. The iso is some kind of a live cd, which should be booted from hdd when system is coming up.

Thank you in advance.
 


I'm surprised nobody has replied yet.
Well, there are several light distros but you didn't post any specs of the computer you intend to run them on.
There's TinyCore which is designed for very old computers (requires 46 MB RAM but uses 21 MB RAM in a virtual machine), there's Puppy Linux and many others. Or you can try ubuntu's minimal ISO altough you say you're a newbie and I doubt you'll be able to install from it.
There's one particular distro that specifically targets newbies - Linux Mint. Some people would say Ubuntu Desktop is for newbies too but I don't think so.
Bottom line: if you don't say anything about the available hardware that PC has, so that I can think of a proper distro for it, I can't help you much.
 
G'day kristofbs, and Welcome to linux.org

That is a seriously weird question

You say you already have an iso (I have an iso) which has to be burned to a local disk....(by this you mean hard drive??)...."like dd does??....(dd does not do that...dd is a convert and copy a file command)........but then you have gone on to say ""I need to find or create something which boots from a usb which contains the iso file, and burns it into the hard drive, or shows a list of hard drivers where to burn the iso. This should be a simple tool to allow users to use it without special linux knowledge. The iso is some kind of a live cd, which should be booted from hdd when system is coming up.

As a newbie you have probably read quite a lot...but have not really understood it. We do understand....we have all struggled with understanding the way to start with Linux.

Start again.

Tell us what your pc/laptop is...specs like model number and name, ram, etc

Then tell us exactly what you want to do/achieve (install Linux to the hard drive?....or maybe just try linux out without installing?...)

Please reply
 
You actually can use DD to copy the ISO to disk. I use it all the time for burning my ISOs to USB, dd bs=4M if=/home/carl/Downloads/Linux/Ubuntu/kubuntu-18.10-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdc. Kristofbs, you will need to create a bootable USB using a similar command as what I mentioned, modifying the path to his ISO and specifying the correct SD. Mine was SDC, but yours may be SDB. If you have Windows, you'll have to find another way to burn to USB. After you get a Linux bootable USB, then you'll have to copy the ISO to it's /home partition. Then on each of the PCs you want to install Linux on, you'll boot to the USB and run your modified "dd bs=4M if=/home/carl/Downloads/Linux/Ubuntu/kubuntu-18.10-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdc" command.
 
Since I've been using the DD command, I haven't had any errors, unless I mistyped something. To assist with that, I have the command in a text file I keep on my persistent /home partition. I just have to modify the ISO name, which can be done with a copy and paste to eliminate the potential for those typos. And I don't have to download anything to do it :)
 
G'day kristofbs, and Welcome to linux.org

That is a seriously weird question

You say you already have an iso (I have an iso) which has to be burned to a local disk....(by this you mean hard drive??)...."like dd does??....(dd does not do that...dd is a convert and copy a file command)........but then you have gone on to say ""I need to find or create something which boots from a usb which contains the iso file, and burns it into the hard drive, or shows a list of hard drivers where to burn the iso. This should be a simple tool to allow users to use it without special linux knowledge. The iso is some kind of a live cd, which should be booted from hdd when system is coming up.

As a newbie you have probably read quite a lot...but have not really understood it. We do understand....we have all struggled with understanding the way to start with Linux.

Start again.

Tell us what your pc/laptop is...specs like model number and name, ram, etc

Then tell us exactly what you want to do/achieve (install Linux to the hard drive?....or maybe just try linux out without installing?...)

Please reply

I went back and re-read the OP after reading this reply ^^^:

I looks to me as if the OP wants to 'deploy' an .iso image over the LAN - see the reference to "no PXE is option" and "... has to be burned fully to a local disk, like dd does. ... there are many computers..."
Needs a bootable USB which contains the .iso and is able to copy (burn) the .iso to the aforementioned "many computers" or present a list of machines on the LAN - "...or shows a list of hard drivers where to burn the iso."
The last sentence in the paragraph looks to me like the OP wants an actual install on each machine. - "The iso is some kind of a live cd, which should be booted from hdd when system is coming up."

As I write this it occurs to me that Debian used to be able to do this.
 
@kristofbs, It would be really nice to hear from the Opening Poster, right about now....4 days and 4 hours since has been seen or heard from......

kristof is just 18 years old....and started his post with ""I am newby to linux so please forgive if it is a stupid question""

I think the op has very little idea of what he wants......he has taken a quick stab in the dark drawing fro0m his reading/research........and has perhaps come up with a quite intelligent idea.

However....wait for him to reappear....otherwise we are all just having a chat around the table without the star of the show being present....or perhaps not even interested anymore !

Where are you @kristofbs ...??
 

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