Distros : Puppy - Play
Puppy Linux has many applications installed: serious business stuff, fun stuff, multimedia and tools to tweak your hardware.
There are many more applications, referred to as Packages available from a number of Repositories including Debian and Ubuntu but you need to do some housekeeping.
First, if you have not already done so, create a save file that will keep all your settings such as your Network Settings and Desktop Themes so shutdown puppy and this time click Yes to Save.
You will have to make a few choices, where to put your save file: your USB key or the Hard Drive? you can give it a name and choose the size, generally just go with the default choices.
In the FINAL SANITY CHECK: click YES, SAVE and Puppy will create the save file, it should take a few minutes and then shut down.
Reboot Puppy and if the save file worked you will be back to your last desktop settings. If you see the Welcome screen again something is wrong, perhaps there wasn't enough space on your chosen drive: if it was a USB key, delete excess files from the key and try and try again ;-).
With the save file working you can Install more software and it will stick around and not just disappear when you shutdown.
Click on Settings then Package Manager.
More housekeeping: in Package Manager Click on the Tools Icon and in the Configure Window Click on the Update database and Click Update now.
In the Databases Update window you see where these packages are downloaded from, mostly Ubuntu and a prompt to Press ENTER key to download, any other to skip it
. Keep hitting that Enter key.
Now its time to pick a Package to install, they are sorted into categories, I choose FUN and searched for solitaire (card games for one person, very sad) I picked aisleriot, choose to do the Step by Step Installation and then Clicked the DO IT icon!!!.
Aisleriot is listed in the Packages to Install and the Package Manager status bar says it has needs four additional packages and needs 12MB of Disk space, I have 1515MB to play with.
If you change your mind and don't want to install a listed package, just click on it to remove it from the Package to install list.
Yes more housekeeping, these additional packages may depend on more packages to work correctly, so be sure to click on Examine dependencies.
Nearly there, a neat overview of what is going to be installed and its Dependencies Click the Download-and-install selected packages.
Woof, Woof, Puppy Package Manager is happy and a link to solitaire should now be in the FUN menu.
Anybody for a game of cards, oh very well I will just have to play by myself.
If you choose to Download-only selected packages you have to go where these files are downloaded, normally the Root Directory.
Click on your USB Drive Icon, probably sdb1 to goto the Root Directory.
These are all .deb files Debian Packages and you click on them to install.
.To Uninstall a package click on Uninstall, and click on that package in the list of Installed Package.
Click again on Uninstall to return back to the normal view.
Installing software is just the beginning Goto PupControl to do really serious stuff, check out the Drive Tab.
Click on Personal tab if you need to increase your save file so that you can install even more software!!!
I do find Puppy Linux very useful, but for me the real deal is to Install a Linux Distro such as Debian onto a PC.
To prepare for that I boot from my Puppy Linux USB key and use its File Manager to check that there is nothing I need on the hard drive.
Then I use Gparted to prepare a partition to install the Linux Distro onto and give that partition a Label so that when I start to install I will choose the right partition and not trash important data.