DSL Linux Help

When you go to download DSL, you might find yourself confused by which file you're supposed to download: there isn't any single obvious main file. This is because there is no single main file you are supposed to download. What you need to download depends on how you want to use DSL. If you want to boot a DSL system from a CD, then you should download "dsl-4.4.10.iso," where the numbers are simply the current version of DSL. If you want to launch DSL from a thumb drive, or run DSL from within another operating system, then download "dsl-4.4.10-embedded.zip" for extraction to your thumb drive.

If you want to launch DSL as the primary operating system for a particular computing session, then load your CD containing the DSL files into your CD drive or connect your thumb drive containing the DSL files to a USB port. When you start up your computer, press the appropriate key at your BIOS screen to enter your boot menu -- your screen will tell you which key to press. Then, depending on the media that contains the DSL files, select either the CD or USB drive at the boot menu. Pressing the Enter key after making this selection will cause your computer to launch DSL from your chosen source.

If you want to run a DSL system from within a Windows computing session, you will need to have downloaded the "dsl-embedded" file and extracted the contents onto a thumb drive. After you log into your Windows account, connect your thumb drive and open up the drive through Windows Explorer. Locate the file "dsl-base.bat" and double click it. This will launch DSL within a separate window within your Windows computing session

DSL is a Debian-based operating system. This means that it is easy for you to install programs or packages by downloading them in a ".deb" file format. You can then use the "dpkg" command line tool to initiate an automated install of your desired program. You also have the option of doing it the old fashioned way: downloading the source code, configuring the make file through the command line, then executing the "make install" command to compile and install the program yourself.