Pogue’s Posts – A Handy Tip From a Reader on Flash Drives – Technology – New York Times Blog:
Freaky reader mail of the day:
“I read with some interest your article on running software off of flash drives. It is indeed quite handy, and you may not be far off in your vision of a future in which us normal folks don’t have to worry about computer ownership and maintenance.
“While I was quite happy to see that you included open-source software in your list of programs worth trying to install on the flash drive, it is well worth noting that in the field of software on flash, Linux has been way ahead of Windows. Entire Linux distributions [versions] exist that take up less than 50 megs of space (see http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ for a popular example), allowing you to run an entire operating system off of your flash drive!
“And because it’s Linux, worries about security, viruses, and spyware from plugging into someone else’s computer are minimized.
“Of course, one can still mount the Windows drive from within linux, thus accessing any files on the host computer, and with a good Windows emulator, it should be possible to run much of the Windows software as well.
“Now, these Linux distributions aren’t quite ready for the mainstream — the software that comes with them isn’t as spiffy as Microsoft Office, and mounting a Windows partition takes a bit of know-how (using the command line most folks shy away from). But they do provide a fully functional minicomputer on a flash drive, safe, secure, and ready to go. Most include a browser, document editor, email client, spreadsheet software, and music and video software, even if they’re not top of the line (it’s not easy squeezing that much stuff on a flash drive, let alone in only 50 megs). I carry DSL linux on my flash drive in a bootable form, so that I can even use computers that are password protected. Pretty handy stuff.”
Handy–and mind-blowing.
Thumb drives are as large as 4Gb now: how long before they are large enough to run an OS, applications and store documents? The disk in the iBook is only 30Gb (way too small): is a 32 Gb flash drive that far out? How small will a laptop become when the disk goes away? The limitations will be the screen size and any CD/DVD drives. And I suspect power consumption will do down as well.
The new mantra in high-end application development is that RAM is the new disk, disk is the new tape: it’s been established practice for years to avoid touching the disk subsystem if you want speed, but flash drives offer some interesting possibilities.