WRITING TOOLS

CDs and disk partitions use different

filesystems. Whereas Linux

may use the Ext3 or ReiserFS format

for partitions, CDs use the ISO9660

filesystem. It doesn’t make much sense

to burn a partition block by block onto a

CD. Instead, you will need to run the

mkisofs tool first to create an ISO9660

filesystem where you can store the

required files. Having done so, you can

burn the “ISO image” onto disk using

the cdrecord tool.

This issue of Command Line takes an

in-depth look at command line tools for

burning and verifying CD images.