Free live software for linux

Ark Linux Live is a Live CD edition of Ark Linux. Ark Linux is a beginner-friendly Linux distribution meant primarily for desktop use.
The Ark Linux team is pleased to announce the release of a first version of Ark Linux Live, a Live CD version of the Ark Linux operating system.
Ark Linux Live is designed to be as close to the "normal" version of Ark Linux as possible - and is built from the same source code.
There are a couple of known problems with this CD image, most notably non-English languages are not working in non-KDE applications, and the kernel spews some [harmless but dangerous looking] error messages at bootup. These (and other bugs that will possibly show up) will be fixed before the release of Ark Linux Live 2006.1.
The primary uses of a Live CD are:
- Recovering a normal system after a big hardware or software failure (Ark Linux will launch a special live CD for this purpose later, with more recovery tools and fewer other tools)
- Checking the system out without any risk
- Showing others what Linux is like, on their own hardware
- Taking your favorite operating system with you - e.g. to get on the net with Linux even if youre on vacation and the only internet cafe in town is a Microsoft shop
While it is possible to use Ark Linux Live as your primary operating system, that is not recommended - use Ark Linux Home instead.
Ark Linux is a Linux distribution designed especially for desktop use, primarily for people without prior Linux experience. Ark Linuxs main goal is ease of use, and the inclusion of many tools end users will need.
Ark Linux is fully Open Source and Free Software, meaning, basically, you can freely redistribute it in both modified and unmodified form.
Enhancements:
- The Ark Linux team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Ark Linux 2007.1, the latest version of its multi-purpose desktop operating system. Ark Linux can be used for office/school work, desktop publishing, graphics, multimedia entertainment/editing, gaming, software development, and more.
Ark Linux is very adaptable and responsive to the users needs without being overly complicated and/or bloated or difficult to install (all a basic installation takes is 3 mouse clicks). For a more customized install, use the expert mode, which makes it possible to manually set up the partitions you wish to install Ark Linux into.
There have been many more changes since the 2006.1 release - all components have been updated to current versions. For example, Ark Linux 2007.1 includes the KDE 3.5.7 desktop, the OpenOffice.org 2.2.1 office suite and the Amarok music player 1.4.7. It also includes the latest underlying technologies such as Linux kernel 2.6.22.3, glibc 2.6.1, and has been built completely with gcc 4.2.1, resulting in a faster system and quicker response times.
A new and better integrated version of the wine Windows emulator makes it possible to run more Windows applications on Linux than before.
In addition to this, hardware detection has been improved, many new drivers are included, support for encrypted wireless networks has been improved and many additional applications and games have been added to the software repository.
We also have good news for developers and OEMs: The Ark Linux build system has been extended to allow customized builds of both Ark Linux and Ark Linux Live including your packages of choice - making it easier than ever to build your own Linux distribution. All details on the new build system can be found at http://wiki.arklinux.org/index.php/Customized_Ark_Linux_CDs-.
Ark Linux 2007.1 and various add-on CDs can be downloaded at http://www.arklinux.org/. Free live support is available using the web chat at http://www.arklinux.org/content/en/Live+Support

Bluewhite64 Linux is an unofficial port of Slackware Linux to the AMD64 architecture. This means that it runs on AMD64 based servers and computers.
Bluewhite64 Linuxs goal of this port is to mimic the user experience of the Intel x86 distribution at its best. I will try to include the same software, configuration scripts and so on. If you notice any differences between Bluewhite64 and the original Slackware, dont hesitate to email me.
Enhancements:
- Bluewhite64 Linux 12.0 Live DVD runs entirely from DVD and includes all packages from Bluewhite64 Linux 12.0 (except the Y and KDEi software series) and the updated packages from the patches directory. Also, in addition to this version, I have included extra packages created by the Bluewhite64 Linux community. The DVD includes the latest stable SMP Linux kernel 2.6.22.1 with advanced features. It is designed to bring a modern Linux desktop to 64-bit architectures, including the modularized X.Org 7.2 with Compiz and Beryl, the award-winning KDE 3.5.7, OpenOffice.org 2.2, Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird 2.0.0.6, Swaret 1.6.3 and Qtswaret 0.1.5-3 package managers....

Debian Live is a Debian SID Live CD.

The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating system is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for short. Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel. Linux is a completely free piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide.

Of course, the thing that people want is application software: programs to help them get what they want to do done, from editing documents to running a business to playing games to writing more software. Debian comes with over 8000 packages (precompiled software that is bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine) - all of it free. Its a bit like a tower.

At the base is the kernel. On top of that are all the basic tools. Next is all the software that you run on the computer. At the top of the tower is Debian -- carefully organizing and fitting everything so it all works together.

Microdrive Live Linux is a tiny little live cd system.
Main features:
- This is basically a set of scripts which you can use to make your own live linux cd.
- It depends on busybox, isolinux and linux of course.
- I am planning to build a small bunch of diskless, monitorless, keyboardless nodes to do my rendering work [3D]. For them to run, I have various options but live cd seem to be most trouble free.
- But then I couldnt find a live cd, that more or less faithfully follows a ordinary installed linux system. They seem to use squashfs or unionfs or some other form of pseudo writable file systems. I couldnt even get the slax to show me a screen. I am sure it is to do with my laptop graphics card.
- But it sort of inspired me to make my own live cd, so I can match the components to the same library versions of my installed systems.
- To this end instead of making a single cd, I broke the work needed in to a set of scripts so that the whole thing is manageable and reusable.
- Hopefully it will be useful to someone else out there.
- Have a nice day.
- Released under GPL Do you need to ask! ."

CentOS is an Enterprise-class Linux Distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor.
CentOS conforms fully with the upstream vendors redistribution policy and aims to be 100% binary compatible. (CentOS mainly changes packages to remove upstream vendor branding and artwork.) CentOS is free, however, we ask for a small contribution. CentOS is a project of the cAos Foundation.
CentOS is developed by a small but growing team of core developers. In turn the core developers are supported by an active user community including system administrators, network administrators, enterprise users, managers, core Linux contributors and Linux enthusiasts from around the world.
CentOS has numerous advantages over some of the other clone projects including: an active and growing user community, quickly rebuilt, tested, and QAed errata packages, an extensive mirror network, developers who are contactable and responsive, multiple free support avenues including IRC Chat, Mailing Lists, Forums, a dynamic FAQ. Commercial support is offered via a number of vendors.
CentOS exists to provide a free enterprise class computing platform to anyone who wishes to use it. CentOS 2 and 3 are fully compatible rebuilds of RHEL 2 and 3 respectively. CentOS 2 and 3 are reproduced from RHEL sources that are freely distributed by RedHat.
Redistributed packages and sources comply fully with RedHats redistribution requirements. CentOS 2 and 3 are designed for people who need an enterprise class OS without the cost, support, certification, or brand name of RedHat.
Main features:
- easy maintenance
- suitability for long term use in production environments
- friendly environment for users and package maintainers
- long-term support of the core
- active development
- community infrastructure
- open management
- open business model
- commercial support - offered by a partner vendor
Enhancements:
- OpenOffice.org 2.0.4
- Firefox 1.5.0.10
- Thunderbird 1.5.0.10
- Gaim-2.0.0
- Scribus-1.3.3
- xchat-2.6.6
- k3b-0.12.17
- Gimp-2.2.13

linuX-gamers Live DVD is a bootable medium with a collection of popular 3D games. It contains both the NVIDIA and ATI proprietary Linux drivers and includes the following games:
- BzFLag
- Enemy Territory
- Glest
- Nexuiz
- Sauerbraten
- Torcs
- Tremulous
- True Combat: Elite
- Warsow and World of Padman
Although the live DVD is based on Arch Linux, it does not offer any desktop Linux functionality except gaming.

Vector Linux is a small, fast, Linux operating system for Intel, AMD and x86 compatible systems, based on one of the original Linux distributions, Slackware.
The Vector development team is proud to announce SOHO 5.1.2-live. We started with SOHO 5.1 added all the recent bugfix patches, and rolled it into a livecd. This is what I believe to be the most feature packed livecd available. It comes with two complete desktops kde-3.4.2, and xfce4.
Built upon the great heritage that is slackware. this release features the 2.6.15.1 kernel, OpenOffice 2.0, Firefox-1.5, Scribus, the Gimp, Mplayer, multimedia pluggins, printer support, scanner support and everything a complete desktop/work station should have.
Plus all of Vectors own administration utilities, and just look at this list of wireless modules
If youve ever wanted to try Vector, or just wanted to show your friends, without having to partition hard drives then here is your chance.
Enhancements:
- The VectorLinux team is proud to announce the release of VectorLinux 5.8 Live CD and the first SOHO 5.8 alpha live CD and DVD. This is the final release for 5.8 standard GOLD live. The hard drive installer that has been problematic is fixed and should work well. The SOHO 5.8 alpha live comes in either CD or DVD editions. The DVD edition includes all that is in the SOHO 5.8 install release plus 62 additional language packs for KDE. The CD version has lost some functionality due to size constraints. The development tool chain and OpenOffice.org were removed.