I would urge caution when going to a computer store and booting up Knoppix, maybe go grab a salesguy and say "I'd like to do this, cool?"
That's tantamount to I urge you to ask an unusual question of someone not able to understand it nor authorized to answer yes. Why invite the No response?
Booting ANY PC with Knoppix to test (for Linux compatibility) is just smart shopping, and often an opportunity to demo Linux at the same time. You're not installing anything, you are seeing whether it's the typical Compaq crippled shit or something actually worth purchasing (e.g. Toshiba). (Compaq dropped down to last place in PC Magazine's survey of support for the last 2 years--tied with eMachines! HP was almost as bad. Replacing failed hardware is trivial; getting stuck with shitty support, wrong & non-existent documentation, profoundly flawed software, hours on hold, is a nightmare. I happen to know.)
The first part of the review article at distrowatch.com is a title/summary: It is safe to say that the Debian-based Knoppix live CD has raised the bar of Linux distribution standards to a new level, especially with its automatic hardware detection and on-the-fly decompression. Knoppix is commonly used as an emergency rescue disk, as a Linux demo CD, as a tool to test a new computer before purchase or as a utility to read password-protected Microsoft Word documents on a Windows partition. It can even be used as a full-blown Linux distribution for every-day tasks. Robert Storey explains the reason why Knoppix has been given a permanent home on his computer's hard drive and why he never leaves home without it.
I like to take a few copies whenever I leave home. Whether the store employees or other customers reaction is negative or inquizitive, I just give them a cd & say this is the most important PC development in years. "Oh yeah; progress is cool." --Beavis
