Small Business Linux Distro

[DeeInLondon]

I'm looking for a Distro that I can run from a Live CD to demonstrate to Businesses.

Ideally it would include Open Office as this is the most MS Office looking office suite.

What I'm looking for is the kind of application most small business need and use an none of the extra that only serve to confuse most users.

The idea is to provide a useful alternative to Windows and MS Office inthe main and have as simple an interface as possible.


Features would typiclly include:

Word Processor
Spreadsheet
Database
PIM – Personal Information Manager
Web Browser
Email
Virus Checker
Windows Style File Manager
Data Backup Utility

[squeegy]

I would suggest Knoppix.

[ShieldWolf]

You might wish to give Mandrake Move a try also, as it will allow you to remove the cd after booting so that you can use the drive for something else, like playing an audio cd or burning a data cd(say, to back up data from a corrupted Windows drive).

To get all of the features you want, you could try customizing your own Knoppix distro. I don't know of any that include an anti-virus scanner, because you'd have to create a new release everytime the virus definitions got updated. Unless you could keep the virus definitions on removable media, such as floppies or a usb pendrive.

HERE (http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2003/11/20/knoppix.html?page=1) is an article to get you started creating that custom distro. Good luck, and let us know what you come up with. I'll even volunteer to beta test. :)

(Edited to add this link) www.distrowatch.com is a great place to find and compare various linux distros to see what's included.

[DeeInLondon]

I've used both Mandrake Move and Knoppix, like them both, but like I said want something as simple as possible to try and encourage Windows users to switch over to Linux.

A custom distro would be nice, although I'm not quite that advanced a user looking that set of instructions on how to go about making one.

[AdamZ]

Originally posted by DeeInLondon
I've used both Mandrake Move and Knoppix, like them both, but like I said want something as simple as possible to try and encourage Windows users to switch over to Linux.

A custom distro would be nice, although I'm not quite that advanced a user looking that set of instructions on how to go about making one.

For a custom distro easier than knoppix I'd reccomend Morphix http://www.morphix.org/ You can see if there are any modules you want already made, and if not, you can make a module with only what you need to add. It's based on knoppix, which is based on debian, BTW, so packages are easy to install. Check out the wiki for info on making your own CD or modules.

[serz]

Knoppix. But it's not "small".