Hi,
Installing Linux operating systems on a usb flash drive is fairly straightforward but you need to be careful as it is possible to misidentify drives and partitions and cause havoc with the system - there are several help sites on-line that give step by step instructions, however there is a simpler, safer solution for users who may not need much additional room for system changes and additional software. You can create a live flash drive with 'persistence' - this enables the user to have a bootable live usb flash drive that includes an up to 4gb overlay file where changes can be saved and available on the next boot. The overlay file is limited to a maximum of just over 4gb because it is formatted in the FAT 32 file system which cannot use larger files.
To create a live Linux usb flash drive with persistence is easily achieved with a free program called 'Linux Live USB Creator' which can be downloaded from
LinuxLive USB Creator. The program is portable so does not need to be installed in the conventional way. Within the program are built-in links to several Linux operating systems but these tend to be older versions, however generally it can cope with later versions of most Linux operating systems - download the the iso file of the required version, insert the usb flash drive and start Linux Live Creator program. The program interface is fairly self explanatory - you need to identify the filepath to the usb flash drive, choose the source of the Linux OS (which would be an iso file in your downloads folder if you had downloaded it from the internet), set the persistence level (just over 4gb is the maximum) and finally run the program. It can take a little while to complete depending on the Linux OS you chose (Puppy Linux distributions are small and quick to complete whereas Ubuntu is hefty and might take 15 to 20 minutes.
I've been doing a few experiments recently as forward planning for when Microsoft ceases support for Windows 7 - I do not intend to move on to Windows 10 so have been trying various Linux OSs through live usb flash drives. I wasn't too keen on the latest Ubuntu - it seems to have made user customization more difficult than in its earlier versions, Lubuntu was better for me but didn't include some of the software I would have liked and would have meant using up too much of the persistence overlay. Xubuntu seems the perfect compromise, allowing me to undertake the customizations I require and include the main software I require like Libre Office, Firefox and Thunderbird. I would also recommend Linux Mint for its flexibility and ease of use. Of the Puppy Linux distributions, which are very easy to install on a usb flash drive without using Linux Live USB Creator as it creates a save file that can use ext file system formats that can be much larger than 4gb. I prefer the latest Puppy TAHR which shows good compatibility with debian software packages and gives me fewer problems with file dependencies than some of the other Puppy versions.
Regarding the firewall question raised earlier in this thread: Ubuntu and its related operating systems usually have a background firewall (UFW) built in and it is more than adequate for normal use. It is strangely not on by default but is easily turned on via use of the terminal emulator. Open the emulator and type 'sudo ufw enable' (without the speech marks) <Return> - to disable it, type 'sudo ufw disable' <Return>. To check the Firewall status, type 'sudo ufw status verbose' <Return>. If for some reason the UFW firewall is missing, open the terminal emulator and type 'sudo apt-get install ufw' <Return>.
Regards to all.
