[Live-demo] osgeo-live-5.0beta4-mini.iso : slightly too big ?

[Hamish]

Julien wrote:
> Well, I did not intend to define a limit, but if the target
> is 4 GB USB sticks, and given the variability of the actual
> size of the sticks claiming 4GB on the market, there is a
> need for some security margin 

one thing to keep in mind with the USB installs--

the base ISO is installed read-only on the stick in a compressed
file system. any changes to the base system as-shipped exists as
a binary diff in the left over user-space on the drive. So if
you have an older stick and 'apt-get upgrade' it with apt telling
you only a few kb needed, the old versions remain and you fill
up your user space with the new ones.

In practice, a 3.2gb USB install leaves about 500mb in free
persistent read-write space for the user, but that fills up in
time. for me I get about a month's use out of it before the thing
fills up but I probably mess with the base system more than most
users would.

This is using the ubuntu Apps->System->Startup Disk Creator
method to install from the live DVD to a USB stick, which also
forces a FAT32 partition which needs a large amount of overhead
(ie some hundreds of MB of wasted space) on the drive.

other live USB methods like the new Debian single ISO for both
CD/DVD & usb stick (just 'dd' it to the usb device to install)
may be less-wasteful, but I doubt we'll get too far away from
these problems due to the difficulties of re-compression of the
base system after changes.


Hamish