first answer: openSUSE is as good as, and better than most…for most
any need…that said, if it were me trying to carry a full operating
system on a stick i’d probably use Puppy Linux, because it is smaller,
lighter, faster…but:
ok…thanks for answering my questions…i’ve been to the
linuxusbstick.de site and have seen what they have…i tried to read
the FAQ and some of the instructions but gave up because the
translation is so bad…
i guess if i read long enough (or in German) i would have finally
found a statement saying you should NOT add programs (like
Thunderbird) nor activate repositories or do any updates…i say all
of that because the total size of the space available on the stick IS
limited, and i don’t how it would be possible to sell the sticks and
not have them come flying back when users filled them up with programs…
so, you ask how you were supposed to get your mail, and the answer was
probably: use the already installed KMail…
i’m afraid i personally can’t help you more…maybe others here
can…i know there are several German speakers here and maybe they
will drop in…
that said: the errors you are getting seem to indicate to me that the
system settings changed from typical “Live CD” setting that allow it
to DETECT and ADAPT to the current network environment and network
file systems hook to the net…
i think when you were working as root and installing Thunderbird all
the various configuration files were rewritten to reflect THE
environment in use at that instant…and, now it is no longer seeing
that machine and that environment and is therefore confused…
but, i may be wrong…and, even if right i’d have no idea how to back
up to a functioning Live CD on a stick, with saved email, etc…
i think you might need to read the rules of use on the site and see if
you violated them…and, if not then contact the site owner and get
their help in resolving…
otherwise, i don’t know…well…WAIT for some smarter folks to come
here and help you!!
by the way, there are instructions on the net (and here in these fora,
somewhere) on how to build a bootable Linux stick…you can buy the
stick and build it yourself…or you can wipe the one you have and
build it anew…if i did that i’d NOT use the KDE4.1 which came with
openSUSE 11.1…ymmv
good luck, i hope this experience won’t sour you on open source, Linux
or openSUSE…
–
platinum