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The FAQ for BFX
How to install packages from the BFX2 repository on my LiveCD?
But why can I write/save documents?
But how can I protect my data?
What is the best size for the swap partition?
On the LiveCD the trash-bin is empty, even though I delete a file
What is a LiveCD?
One of the great things about GNU/Linux is you can load your operating system and applications from a CD when booting up the computer. That means you don't need to have a hard disk or install GNU/Linux first, before you can use it. You can leave the operating system on the hard drive fully intact and still use the GNU/Linux on the CD.
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How do I use a LiveCD?
To use a LiveCD, insert the CD immediately when powering up your computer. If it does not recognize and boot from the CD, you may need to change the "boot order" in your computer's BIOS to look for a CD before booting from the hard drive. Don't worry, though. If you want to use your operating system on the hard drive, simply restart the computer without the LiveCD in the computer. This won't stop you from using the operating system installed to your hard drive in the future. If you make this setting change and a CD is not in the drive when booting, it will still boot from the hard drive as it previously did.
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What is a "cheat code"?
Cheat codes or boot cheats are parameters you give BFX2 at the bootloader interface (GRUB/isolinux). With these parameters you can influence the behavior of BFX before it even boots.
You can find directions on using cheat codes and a list of cheat codes in the Booting the LiveCD section of BFXdocs
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How to install packages from the BFX2 repository on my LiveCD?
You don't, or rather, you can't. The directory tree of the LiveCD is read-only.
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But why can I write/save documents?
Because your home directory among others resides in a ramdisk, which is writable.
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What is a ramdisk?
A part of your RAM is reserved and configured to act like a hard disk - hence "ramdisk".
However, RAM can only store data as long it gets power. If you turn off your PC, everything in it including the ramdisk and its data is gone beyond recovery!
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How can I protect my data?
BFX has a function that stores your data, including network and printer settings on a hard disk or a usb stick. It's a sort of backup function. You have to do that manually, though. You find it in Applications -> System Tools -> Save Settings. On reboot, you can give the path to the storage device via cheat code and the data you saved will be restored and is accessible again.
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What is a swap partition?
To use a Windows term: virtual memory. If your RAM is getting bloated, the system shovels less important data onto hard disk: It swaps. While Windows uses a file for that which is stored on a "normal" partition (C:), Unix uses a whole dedicated partition which is optimized for temporarily store RAM data (although it can also use a file).
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What is the best size for the swap partition?
"Optimal" virtual memory (VM) depends on the purpose of the system. For a server it's better to stay under the physical RAM (about 50%). Of course, this also depends on how much memory your system needs anyway. 64MB RAM and 32MB VM will be a problem if your system needs more than 96MB memory. But keeping the VM size lower than the RAM size keeps more data in the RAM and makes the server more responsive.
On a desktop, however, the situation is different. While applications on a server are rather consistent - it runs it services and that's it (more or less), on a desktop you have a wider range of different applications, which are started and stopped inconsistently. Thus, it's more important to have free RAM to assign to starting applications. Hence, having more VM than RAM is advantageous. Again, if you have 64MB RAM and your system needs at least 200MB overall memory, the VM has to have a reasonable size. So, the size of the swap partition depends on your RAM and how you use the system (if you run several "memory hungry" apps at once, or rather not).
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How to add swap space?
Refer to the section on Partioning and formatting here on BFXdocs.
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Can I have more than one swap partition?
Yes, that is possible. [TODO: Link to documentation]
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When running the live CD, the trash-bin is empty, even though I delete a file
This is a strange quirk that affects only the live CD and files deleted from the /home/bea directory. However, even thought the trash-bin icon doesn't turn to "not empty" and the trash-bin is empty, the file(s) did not get permanently deleted! The file(s) correctly reside in the hidden /home/bea/.Trash directory. Files deleted from anywhere else will turn up in the trash-bin. We don't know why this happens yet!
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