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Creating Live Linux Distributions For Disasters 111

Posted by Zonk from the penguins-on-the-line dept.
phaedo00 writes "The folks over at Ars Technica have an article up about Hannibal's experience volunteering in relief efforts and how a custom built Linux distribution can help people solve social and disaster related problems without costing an arm and a leg. From the article: 'I spent the two weeks after Katrina struck working with volunteers in Lake Charles, Louisiana and across the Internet to build, maintain, and upgrade such labs in two of southwest Louisiana's largest Red Cross shelters. The present article is a short introduction to one of the most important categories of tools to emerge from the efforts of myself and others to meet the shelters' need for free, zero-maintenance, bulletproof, Internet-connected computers: the shelter lab LiveCD build.'" Article partially paid-only.
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Creating Live Linux Distributions For Disasters More

Creating Live Linux Distributions For Disasters

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  • Browser Incompatibilites (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Kevin108 ( 760520 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @03:52PM (#13716431) Homepage
    Has FEMA updated their site to be accesible through non-IE browsers?

  • No, the PDF version is paid-only. (Score:5, Informative)

    by NNKK ( 218503 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @03:53PM (#13716447) Homepage
    Like all Ars Technica articles, the full article is viewable on the website for free, and paid members can download it in a PDF form.

  • True Biloxi Stories (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ndansmith ( 582590 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @03:54PM (#13716459)
    I may be heading down to Biloxi Mississippi in the next few weeks to help coordinate the computers in a relief office and offer my repair/recovery skills. One of my most important tools down there will be LiveCD/USBs of Slax, Ubuntu, etc. It will allow for some recovery but mostly establishing a quick network with free software in the wake of many computers being damaged/destroyed by flood.

  • Personal livecd (Score:3, Informative)

    by GieltjE ( 815903 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @03:56PM (#13716469) Homepage
    http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_build_a_LiveCD_from_s cratch [gentoo-wiki.com] Check this howto I made for making your own personal livecd from A gentoo install which is highly maintainable.

    • Needs to be Updated! (Score:4, Informative)

      by DnemoniX ( 31461 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @04:03PM (#13716533)
      The wiki articles on how to do this with Gentoo haven't been updated in well over a year. A large amount of the information is no longer valid. I actively work on development of a Forensic and Network Analysis Live CD based off of Gentoo. For the best advise on how to really get going with this, look into Catalyst and make sure you emerge it with the documentation. It will walk you through the basics. If anyone wants a link to my development page drop me an e-mail and I'll be happy to point the way. I'd simply post it but I doubt the server would take the beating very well.

      e-mail: paul.kessler@gmail.com
      • Use Coral Cache [coralcdn.org] then.
      • As another post says, use a coral link. Just add .nyud.net:8090 to the URL.
        So if you have an URL like this http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/photo/aerogel.html [nasa.gov] coral link would be http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov.nyud.net:8090/photo/a erogel.html [nyud.net]
      • This is still continuesly being updated, I do not know where you get this false information, but this is a much better alternative then catalyst. Since it is just a dir you can chroot in it is much better maintainable!
        • False information? Hardly! I use Catalyst every day. The release engineers at Gentoo use Catalyst. The Gentoo Power PC developers use Catalyst. Everyone that does production work for Gentoo uses Catalyst. People, it seriously takes all the hard work out of making a Live CD, how hard is that to understand. Try reading the instructions that come with the release. If you emerge it with the docs you get extremely up to date and step by step instructions for every switch in the spec files. If that isn't enough,
          • I do not use catalyst because it recompiles everything whenever you need a new build. I just run a script which makes a bootable version of the dir in approx 30min.

            I can just chroot into the dir and make everything fit exactly my needs, not those by some system.
            • Maybe you should read the instructions, I perform builds all day long making minor changes here and there. The only recompiling that happens is if I add another package to get emerged in. Other than that I recompile my kernel by choice, but it is not a rule. Catalyst also easily supports distcc and it doesn't even need to be run under Gentoo. It runs just fine under Fedora or just about anything else for that matter. You just need to actually understand how it works. Also any of those "changes" you need to
    • How dare you suggest this.. you want people in need of relief to wait on FEMA and the time it takes to compile a Gentoo Live CD? You insensi.. oh, nevermind.

  • Ultimate Boot CD (Score:5, Informative)

    by spoonyfork ( 23307 ) <spoonyfork@@@gmail...com> on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @03:58PM (#13716488) Journal
    http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ [ultimatebootcd.com] is worth checking out if you haven't had the pleasure already.

  • Disaster Recovery LiveCDs (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Eberlin ( 570874 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @03:59PM (#13716493) Homepage
    If nothing else, I've got a recent (if not latest) version of Knoppix and the latest Ubuntu LiveCD, which pretty much covers most of my needs in a disaster...whether it's an actual need for a bootable machine for internet access and word processing...or actually getting information out of a HDD when the underlying OS got borked one way or another.

    The article goes on to feature the other quickfix distros including DamnSmallLinux and the LTSP to get a bunch of networked PCs up and running quickly.

    In a disaster, I must say that content filtering (and possibly time management) aren't my priorities but I guess to keep some sense and order on things, they're needed. However, something to boot with, something to get networking with, something to type something with, and something to save information to would make up my computing needs when some disaster hits.
    • However, something to boot with, something to get networking with, something to type something with, and something to save information to would make up my computing needs when some disaster hits.

      I'm thinking network and printer drivers are going to be the gotchas here. And maybe video drivers, although it's been a while since I haven't been able to get at least a 640x480 KNOPPIX X.

      Actually this highlights the need for open hardware standards.
      • >>I'm thinking network and printer drivers are going to be the gotchas

        Pretty small gotchas these days. You'd be suprised how much thin client hardware is autodected under LTSP. It has come a very long way.

        • Come to think of it, my scope of late is farily narrow...mostly KNOPPIX 3.7 (yeah, need to update) on work PCs not recognizing the Broadcom Xtreme gigabit adapter.

          On the other hand, part of my poorly-made point is that new hardware keeps coming out and needing new drivers, so a disaster LiveCD is going to have to keep being updated to avoid going stale. Usually you want your disaster stuff to be unperishable.

  • online registration in an time of disaster (Score:4, Insightful)

    by G4from128k ( 686170 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @03:59PM (#13716499)
    If the phones/broadband are down, how do people re-install legal copies of software? Laptops and even PCs can run on emergency power, but without internet, the users can't recover if they must re-install software.

  • Apache, Samba, Wireless, USB, Map Software (Score:4, Interesting)

    by billstewart ( 78916 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @04:04PM (#13716544) Journal
    It's really important in environments like that to have a web server system, so you'd want Apache or THTTPD or some alternative, and you need SAMBA because somebody's going to have a Windows box you need to talk to. And obviously you're going to want some wireless tools to help you build wireless networks - at least Netstumbler.

    A USB memory stick is really useful if you want to make servers run on unknown-condition hardware, and a USB hard drive can give you more space and power if you want to haul that around. Somebody else mentioned having various USB tools so you can download from digital cameras and other random devices.

    If you've got a mapping program that you can fit onto your CDs, that can be really helpful also, in case people don't have the bandwidth to get to Google/Yahoo/Mapquest. I don't know of any that run on Linux (I've got some old ones that run on Windows, and on Linux machines I just use Google), but I assume there are some out there that can read Tiger data.

  • The failure of single source solutions (Score:3, Insightful)

    by stuffduff ( 681819 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @04:26PM (#13716723) Journal
    This is a great example of the failure of single source solutions, specifically FEMA's IE6 only site. Sure it is easy to maintain a single source solution and it can help to keep costs down. Unfortunately, in this case it failed to be open enough to provide help to the people it was designed to help nor did it support the people it was created to support. In a disaster you will be lucky to get anything in the way of hardware, software and support, so the environment to support the disaster teams needs to be very very forgiving. Too bad it wasn't.
    • Easy to maintain would be plain text or a strict low-version HTML with no javascript, activex, plugins, whatever required. As a bonus, it would also work on anything capable of making that http request - be it firefox on a Mac running Debian or whatever those cell phones use or lynx or someone telnett'd to port 80.

  • Answering "Why Emergency Internet Access?" posts (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Captain Sarcastic ( 109765 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @04:30PM (#13716774)
    During Hurricane Katrina, the Internet proved its value during disasters and disaster recovery. It was available when the TV and radio stations were flooded out or blacked out.

    During the initial recovery, instead of having to fill out reams of paper, people were able to electonically submit their information over the Internet.

    Instead of overloading the Post Office with "Where are you?" notes and "Here I am!" responses, people were able to use the Internet to send E-mail.

    Face it, people - the Internet did what it was supposed to do: stay connected even during emergencies. We've gotten used to it, our non-immediate disaster relief efforts now expects Internet access, and we made use of it when the usual media failed.

    So, posters who ask, "Well, what do they need Internet access for at a shelter?" - I offer my answer.
    • Instead of overloading the Post Office with "Where are you?" notes and "Here I am!" responses, people were able to use the Internet to send E-mail.

      Face it, people - the Internet did what it was supposed to do: stay connected even during emergencies. We've gotten used to it, our non-immediate disaster relief efforts now expects Internet access, and we made use of it when the usual media failed.

      Given the hardest hit areas with no electricity or telecom services to speak of, amateur radio deserves the credit f
      • I've seen a working internet connected network where the nearest utilities were 10-20 miles away (see the fun here [pdx.edu]. They were using some sort of satellite internet (Direct TV, I think) and a portable generator. There were something like eight to a dozen laptops (and a couple of regular PCs) connected to this network and the bandwidth appeared ample. They kept the network running continuously and without incident for around two full days.

        My point here is that you really don't need that much infrastructure

      • Yes, you're right.

        Amateur Radio regularly schedules "Field Days", where a simulated emergency is posited, and people have 24 hours to make as many radio contacts as they can. IIRC, their score is also affected by the conditions under which they operate... contestants using 110-volt wall current have to make more contacts to score as high as those using gasoline-powered generators.

        Amateur radio usually gets info in and out of disaster areas first.
    • And anyway, what would us porn addicts do? :P

  • It is NOT partially paid-only (Score:5, Informative)

    by Hannibal_Ars ( 227413 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @04:42PM (#13716892) Homepage
    It's not true that the article is partially paid-only. None of Ars Technica's content is paid only, either partially or wholly. You can pay for a PDF of it, but you get the HTML content for free.

  • Dupe? (Score:2)

    by Monoman ( 8745 )
    Not really but I posted an Ask Slashdot(Denied of course) right after Katrina. Basically I figured the geek community could come up with a way to put together a Live CD simple enough for victims in shelters to use.

    Once victims were in places like shelters with power they would need access to various agencies' forms. The would also be able to do some emails or post to victims forums.

    Old PCs donated to shelters would be handy as well. Heck, make sure the system boots with the live "disaster" disc or usb thing
    • Don't feel bad. This article was submitted this morning and it was denied. Slashdot editors don't exactly communicate with one another. Nor are they consistent. Nor are they especially bright.

  • Already done this. (Score:3, Informative)

    by login: ( 155941 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @04:48PM (#13716946)
    I've been working with my local Red Cross (in Canada) to create just such a disk. We tentatively named it "RedCrossix" and it is based on Knoppix 3.6.

    There were a couple of key goals when we created it:
        -Needs to be able to boot from CD OR install to HD.
        -Must be secure (unable to read/write hard disk) of borrowed PC, unless you do install.
        -Very simplified desktop and menu structure in KDE. Web Browser / Email / Word processor / Games.
        -Needs to auto-detect hardware (thanks Knoppix team for this..)
        -Customization (red-cross wallpaper, splash screens, etc).

    It's actually pretty simple to take Knoppix and do this. If anyone's interested, reply and I'll post my notes later tonght when I get home (after 11pm MST - North American Time).

  • Here in Lafayette, LA... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Dr_Ish ( 639005 ) on Tuesday October 04, 2005 @04:52PM (#13716987) Homepage
    At our local shelter, the Cajundome, the IE6 FEMA problem was major too. Although intially some machines were loaded with a Linux distro (I don't know which), this issue prevented them from being used. Fortunately, some guy walked in and offered a bunch of Win2k machines, that we could get IE 6 to run on. Once we had them up and running though, the FEMA site tanked.

    In the discussion section, some people have argued that net connectivity is less important than food and shelter. This is true. However, the web site was the only way for most people to get registered with FEMA. As this is one of the most important tasks, once basic needs are met, network connections should not be under estimated. A good word should also be given to Yahoo, for providing free e-mail accounts. Last time I used this system (ages ago), they required a referring e-mail address. They no longer require this. This was crucial, as FEMA require an e-mail address to complete the registration process. That being said, it is a shame that FEMA (known in these parts as 'The Finally, Eventually Made-it Agency) has otherwise been so damn useless.

    There was another lab where people could have more general net access. There many people seemed to find a huge sense of relief in being able to see their houses on google, even when the houses were under water. One older man I helped was totally blown away at the idea of seeing the Ninth ward of N.O from space. He wept when he saw that his house still had a roof, and then started making jokes about how the fishing would be good from his porch! For a person who has lost everything, anything that can bring a bit of joy is very valuable indeed.

    Another point needs to be raised in the context of this liveCD discussion. This is the fact that on many older machines (I know this, as I have alot of practice with these), the CD drive is one of the first things to fry. This is a problem.

    One final point, in the article, there is a discussion of the role of M$ in the disaster relief in this State. The current 'official' State operating system is Win2k. So, they will have been especially motivated to assist a good customer. However, from time to time we hear rumours that the State is going to make M$ software mandatory (I work for a State of Louisiana institution). Fortunately, this hasn't happened yet.

    Just my 2 cents.

    • Up until the early '70s, we had Civil Defense, run locally by volunteers who knew the area. Then, that was dismantled and replaced by FEMA; a centralized bureauocracy headquarted in DC and therefore unable to have any local knowledge. Of course it's slow to respond, and believes in "one size fits all" solutions like forcing people to register on-line with one and only one browser. Thank you, Jimmy Carter for foisting this on us.
  • A few posts here seem to miss the importance of internet access in disaster recovery. The only way we could apply for FEMA aid was through the website(which crashed every other time we logged on). The phone lines(which mostly never went down) were clogged for weeks and probably still are.

    Getting in touch with friends and family, receiving information on the extent of the disaster and applying for aid make access essential.

  • Definitely outside of the Red Cross IT guidelines (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Fubar ( 1615 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2005 @01:48AM (#13720071)
    The Red Cross IT folks are really, really picky about what is used on their networks and what is used in their name. The Red Cross has a procedure in place to bring internet connectivity to a shelter, HQ or service center and it doesn't include linux. I spent three weeks as a "RTT" member in the Gulf Coast, they use Windows for everything and either bring in a T1 or use in-house VSAT equipment (either an ECRV or a fly-away kit) for network connectivity.

    While FEMA website access works great, the ARC proxy server blocks out all webmail access. Nothing like thousands of volunteers and clients being unable to ping family about how they're doing.

    And an off-topic note - the ARC is doing some amazing innovation in the field of emergency IT.
  • tools to emerge from the efforts of myself and others to meet the shelters' need

    Might want to reconsider the Gentoo decision, victims won't want to wait to recompile the lastest search & rescue team with optimizations ;-)

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