LiveCD for Media Artists (Controllerists/DJ/VJ)

[cheft]

I've seen in threads people talk about what to do when you have computer problems at a live show. Some even advocate taking two laptops, I think that's a little excessive. In my experience, 90% of all computer problems is software. Personally, I have my hard disk partitioned and a duel-boot set. So in case one OS goes freaky, I have always have another.

Another option is to use a "Live CD." A live CD/DVD is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking a hard disk drive. Live USB flash drives are similar to live CDs, but often have the added functionality of automatically and transparently writing changes back to their bootable medium.

May I introduce pure:dyne, a Debian based Linux Live CD.

pure:dyne is an operating system developed to provide media artists with a complete set of tools for realtime audio and video processing. pure:dyne is a live distribution, you don't need to install anything. Simply boot your computer using the live CD and you're ready to start using software such as Mixxx, Pure Data, Supercollider, Icecast, Csound, Fluxus, Processing, amSynth, and much much more.

You can boot pure:dyne from usb stick, CD or DVD. pure:dyne will work on any PC laptop, desktop, and single-board computers, including the intel-based Mac, Asus' Eee PC, and any x86 netbooks

Notice it comes with Mixxx! Along with a host of other neat audio toys. I'm not suggesting this will replace your entire studio, but under fire at a show, this may be a great thing to have in your laptop bag. If you load it onto a USB stick, you can even alter files and add different apps. Plus, I just love the name of their builds, "miso", "leek and potato", and the upcoming "carrot and coriander." So don't be scared of Linux; give this a chance, load it up and you'll be impressed!

pure:dyne LINK
List of Bundled Applications

[tekki]

I was quite fond of the dyna:bolic idea.

It was just that it is/was not compatible with Ableton and Traktor, that I left it too be.

But thanks for the heads up, I might actually try this one.

[cheft]

dyna:bolic is good, but it takes twice as long to boot into the OS. Using pure:dyne I can boot into it using the cd in less than a minute and a half. That speed could be faster if you used a USB drive. Also, vital apps like Mixxx aren't included. And to be honest, this was the main thing I wanted on a live cd, an alternate if Traktor or Windows decides to poop out.

[dj3du]

In my laptop, I got dual-boot too. In partition 1, I'm using a Linux distro called gOS (designed for netbooks) with Mixxx. In partition 2, WinXP SP2 with Traktor 3. I just got 4-5 audio apps installed, 'cause the lappy is only for DJing purposes.

I always carry a MP3 Player/USB drive with some tracks and mix sessions, just in case things go wrong.