Most Linux distributions are distributed in the form of CD images that you will need to "burn" (write) to a recordable CD. These CDs are typically labeled "CD-R" for CD Recordable. There are some variations to this label such as "CD-RW" for CD Rewriteable which allow you to erase what you've recorded and write something new over it. I've found that CD-Rs are much more reliable in that it can be read in nearly every CD-RW and CD-ROM drive.
When you buy CD-Rs to burn a Linux image to, be sure to buy the 700MB CD-R. Although most Linux distributions are designed to fit on a 650MB CD-R, it's safer to buy the 700MB variety and it usually doesn't cost you any more money to do so.
No CD Burner?
If you currently do not have a CD burner (CD-R or CD-RW drive which is used to write data to your own CD media,) then burning Linux CDs is not really an option for you. That is, unless you decide to go out and buy a CD burner and install it in your machine. In this event you will need to obtain the Linux CDs by other means.
An excellent option is to order the CDs online from a reputable business. Although you can order the CDs directly from the manufacturer and get nice printed manuals and CDs with jewel cases, I find it's much cheaper to order from a third-party that reproduces the CDs. Because there is no copying restrictions associated with freely available linux, other people can reporduce the CDs and sell them to you at a minimal cost.
Once you order the CD, it usually only takes about 3 or 4 days to get to you. Considering the cost of a retail box is somewhere in the neighborhood of $60, it's nice to know you can get professionally done copies for around $7 from sites like these:
File Formats
The most common file format you will find is ISO-9660. This is the International Standards Organization format for CD image files. This type of file usually has an ISO file extension and can be used by almost every type of CD burning software available.
If you have another type of image and you want to convert it into ISO, there are some programs out there that will help you. On Windows, there is an excellent program called "UltraISO" which will convert many different formats to any other type of format. Generally speaking, it is very rare to find a Linux CD distribution that isn't distributed in ISO format.
Windows Software
If you currently have a Microsoft Windows computer with a CD burner, you can choose from many different cd-burning programs. Among the best programs are:
Linux Software
In the event that you already have a Linux computer up and running with a CD burner installed, you can choose from the following programs to bury your Linux ISOs:
- X-CD Roast (free)
- Gear Pro
- Simple CDR / CDRecord (free)
Downloading Images
Downloading images is a lengthy and time-consuming process. Hopefully, you have some sort of broadband connection so the process doesn't take too long. With a cable modem, you can download a 3-disc set of ISO images in a day providing your connection and the provider's server is up to the task.
You can download images by HTTP (through a web browser) or by FTP (File Transfer Protocol - through using a web browser or other FTP client) or by Bit Torrent. Bit Torrent is a distributed network (peer-to-peer file sharing) that allows everyone who's connected to act like a download source.
I definitely recommend Bit Torrent downloading if it is an option for your distribution. Bit Torrents can be stopped at any point and then resumed at a later point. Bit Torrents are extremely useful when a new distribution hits the market because the manufacturer's servers get overloaded instantly. Bit Torrents, on the other hand, scale linearly as the number of people downloading increases. This provides you with stable download rates.
For more information on the various Linux distributions and where to download them, please see the page Obtaining?.
Verifying Downloaded Images
After you completed downloading an image, you will want to verify that the download image is valid. This can be done by using what is called a MD5 checksum. MD5 is an acronym meaning "Message Digest (Authentication)" and contains a hash key that verifies the file. All of the contents of the file are summed together and the result is a hex code that looks something like
db8c7254beeb4f6b891d1ed3f689b412
On linux you can use the command-line utility "md5sum" to perform a checksup on a specific CD Image. For more information about this command, you will need to open a terminal session and type "man md5sum".
For a Windows computer you can use FastSum to perform MD5 checksum compulation on your downloaded image files. You can obtain this software at:
Be sure to verify all of your images that you downloaded BEFORE you burn them to CDs. This will save you a lot of time and heartache should one of your CDs be corrupted.
If the image is corrupted, you will probably need to download the entire image all over again. The one exception is if you were using bit torrent to download an image and you didn't give the download time to complete (and therefore have an incomplete Linux image). Only Bit Torrent can resume downloads, FTP and HTTP cannot.
Burning Images
The process to burn CD images really depends on which CD burning software you choose to install and run. Each software has a different process to burn an ISO image. When in doubt, check the reference manual or integrated help for information on how the process works. Search for the keywords "burning ISO" or "ISO images".
In general, the process will go something like this:
- Start the Program
- Insert a Blank CD
- Choose "Record Image" from the Menu
- Choose the Downloaded Image on Your Filesystem
- Choose Burning Options and Click OK
- Software Will Take Care of the Rest
Of course, you will need to repeat this step for every CD image in the distribution. After each CD is burned, make sure that you label each CD so that you can easily identify them. When installing Linux, the setup process will often ask you to "insert CD #3" and it's nice to be able to know exactly which CD it means.