FrankForum (Frankness IS Forum)

Yep, it still exists. Spent the last two weeks burning Linux isos to DVDs. Better than using usb, actually, when installing a new distro. Linux recognizes it better. When I did usb install, the usb stick didn't work well, thought another usb attached was supposed to be a 'live' distro instead of the intended permanent install. But with CD it's no problem. Took me awhile to learn that, and since you can buy external DVD drives cheaply, why not?

Floppies used by Linux weren't only OpenSuse, Gentoo and CentOS but I forget all the names. I don't know why they asked me to insert a floppy prior to install since there wouldn't be enough room.

Floppy Drives great stuff and classic. Have to say though cannot remember the last time I used a Floppy Disc. In fact I rarely use Discs for data storage now. There was a time when I had a multitude of Linux Live CD's. Creating custom Linux Discs with bleeding edge Compiz-git (mostly Debian based) with software called Remastersys. Don't know if it even exists now.

External floppies are required by XP for setting up networks, for rescue, sometimes for other ad hoc things. Oddly enough, they are also sometimes required by major Linux distros I've encountered like OpenSuse, Gentoo, CentOS (maybe older versions, I don'nt know). So how do you get one? Are they expensive?

Cheap and tested (I own three), here:
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Dell-6Y185-A02-Latitude-Compatible/dp/B00OP8CJ3O
[/url]

I got mine several years back for $5 each, so the price here is good. Some in Amazon sell for much more, tub the point is, you hook them up with a standard mini-usb cable; you'll already have one of these if you had the prior-generation smartphones (like the Razor). Just hook the cable into the usb and at the side of the floppy drive, and you're ready to go. Works in XP, 7, 8, 10, and in Linux.

As I type I'm using that floppy to cause one of my XP machines to set up a network, now that I've newly resurrected the drive that was in my HP machine, into a Dell 6510 (don't ask, took two weeks, still don't have the right sound drivers).