On 08/01/2013 12:46 PM, m.roth at 5-cent.us wrote: > But if that's the case, why is it that I don't know a distro that's > intended to *directly* install to, say, an 8G flash drive? What isn't > everyone *assuming* that this is the way to go if you have no o/s, or > 'Net access until you install? Why is it such a freaking *pain* to > build a flash drive that boots and installs? It's not a pain to build an install USB flash drive, and hasn't been for a long time. I've been using install USB drives for a couple of releases, now, and it's easy, and 6.4 makes it even easier. If you need packages on the second DVD, you need to add one more step (building the dual-layer ISO using mkdvdiso.sh (see the archives of the list, I've posted the link before)). Otherwise it's simple. There's even a gui. You need the EPEL repo enabled. if you want just the CLI, install livecd-tools. If you want the GUI, install liveusb-creator. Don't let the word 'live' trick you; it works just fine with the install ISO, just treat it as if the install ISO were a live ISO. And with the anaconda updates in 6.4, it's more difficult to accidentally install grub to the usb stick. As to 'distro' that *runs* on an 8G USB stick natively, well, it's not a linux distro, but the FreeBSD-based pfSense boots and runs just fine in nanoBSD-mode on 512MB, 1G, 2G, and 4G USB sticks. I'm testing pfSense 2.1 now booting this way., using the internal USB port on an Interl ServerBoard....