making a remaster that accepts updates

[drhadidy]

can i make a live CD or live USB that accepts and saves changes in the updates and changing the installed apps??

[AS]

can i make a live CD or live USB that accepts and saves changes in the updates and changing the installed apps??

Short answer, no. A LiveCD is a read-only media. 
A LiveUSB, when using 'persistence', will allow to save your personal data and even small packages updates, i.e. it will not be possible to update large packages (this is somewhat limited from the amount of the available RAM), it is also not possible to update the kernel and every things that it is included in initrd image ...

AS

[Archie]

can i make a live CD or live USB that accepts and saves changes in the updates and changing the installed apps??

Short answer, no. A LiveCD is a read-only media. 
A LiveUSB, when using 'persistence', will allow to save your personal data and even small packages updates, i.e. it will not be possible to update large packages (this is somewhat limited from the amount of the available RAM), it is also not possible to update the kernel and every things that it is included in initrd image ...

AS

Hmmm... from the numerous remasters and installs I have done, I am unsure but I vaguely remember having run LiveUSB of Minime 2012.2 (I can't remember if I installed it first or left it running on LiveUSB, removed MC and what-else, installed and did and rpmorphan, updated to current and lastly, installed pkgutils, then remastered ... all that was needed was the 1GiB. But like I said, I am unsure.

The best way to to find out is to try it. If it does work, very good. If it doesn't, all you'd have is another remaster.

[AS]

can i make a live CD or live USB that accepts and saves changes in the updates and changing the installed apps??

Short answer, no. A LiveCD is a read-only media. 
A LiveUSB, when using 'persistence', will allow to save your personal data and even small packages updates, i.e. it will not be possible to update large packages (this is somewhat limited from the amount of the available RAM), it is also not possible to update the kernel and every things that it is included in initrd image ...

AS

Hmmm... from the numerous remasters and installs I have done, I am unsure but I vaguely remember having run LiveUSB of Minime 2012.2 (I can't remember if I installed it first or left it running on LiveUSB, removed MC and what-else, installed and did and rpmorphan, updated to current and lastly, installed pkgutils, then remastered ... all that was needed was the 1GiB. But like I said, I am unsure.

The best way to to find out is to try it. If it does work, very good. If it doesn't, all you'd have is another remaster.

Yes Archie, this is entirely possible ... the limits exists about very large packages (i.e. LibreOffice) and boot related things ... kernel ... initrd ... plymouth ... drivers module needed at boot ... May be my answer was too much restrictive ... but was safer 

And yes, update first and then remaster is the safe way to go. 

[Archie]

There were just so many things, AS ... some of them were good and successful, and some were failures and experiences I've learned new things.

And of course, users are all different. Some prefers the cautious, certain approach, and some just like to dive in head first ... like myself!

You safe answer is and should be what most users be taking seriously.

For me, when things break, I can usually fix them myself ... but when the possible to fix becomes impossible, I'm just glad there's AS. 

[AS]

 

Alternatively it is possible to perform a plain installation on a (larger) USB stick partition, that will work exactly like an hard disk installation, only a little slower compared to a LiveUSB

[Archie]

I have one on an 16GiB microSD card that I plugin on a USB adapter and port and that's faster. 

[djohnston]

can i make a live CD or live USB that accepts and saves changes in the updates and changing the installed apps??

If you're sure it's what you want, and if the USB drive is large enough, (I'd say 16GB at the very least), install to the USB drive the way you'd install to a hard drive. Just be aware that the more writes and rewrites are done to the drive, the less time it will last. And, space will be at a real premium.

[Just17]

there is no way to alter the kernel used, OK ....  but on the other hand I have not hit a problem, that I recall, when doing normal updates of the live session.

It is also possible/likely that I just did not meet with a problem waiting in the wings ....

Regarding larger packages, like LO, if those are added while running on a PC with sufficient memory for the purpose, then they will be available for later use on less well-endowed PCs.

If, for some reason, there is a large number of updates, sufficient to require a greater amount of RAM, then those updates could be applied in stages during the one live session ........  do, say, 10 packages, downloaded to memory, installed and cache cleared, do the next 10 ....  and so on until all are updated.

can i make a live CD or live USB that accepts and saves changes in the updates and changing the installed apps??

Apps you "uninstall" won't actually uninstall ......  they will still be contained in the OS.
Apps you add, while using "Persistence" will be added to the 'Persistence' location and become available as additional apps when booting with Persistence. They are not available when booting in standard mode.

Persistence is not available on on a liveCD (cannot write to it) but is on a liveUSB.

Having said all that ...  there appears to be a way to save personal files (and maybe OS updates?) to a USB or other location, when running from a liveCD.
I have never used it or tried it, as the idea of using two separate pieces of media was not very convenient, IMO.

No doubt, to get the best and most convenient set up, one might start with a 'mini' install, eliminating, adding and updating as required, and then make a remaster for use on a CD or USB device.
After that very little should be needed to be stored within the 'persistence' location of a liveUSB media.