In researching 11.04 I decided to revisit Ubuntu 10.

In so doing I became aware that the snags I decided I might live with
in Ubuntu 10.10 are probably best described by Ubuntu Bug 562312.
In short, the Broadcom wl driver will get loaded, but a necessary redo
of initramfs hangs up and registers an error before returning. This
snag also recurs on every subsequent access of Synaptic. Annoying but
not catastrophic. You can review the Launchpad record yourself at

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ls/+bug/562312

This bug was apparently brought under control in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.
I now have an improved Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, daily build ~11 Feb 2011 which
has most of the kinks of Ubuntu 10.10 final ironed out. I found this at

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lucid/daily-live/current/

However, it's really tight for a 2 Gb USB setup, leaving only 360 Mb
persistent after a fully successful Broadcom driver installation with no
initramfs complaints. Compare this with the 1181 Mb persistence I get
with a 2 Gb Knoppix 6.4.4 LiveUSB.

Bug 562312 seemed to be the Broadcom/initramfs hang-up in Ubuntu 10;
presumably 'fixed' in the noted daily build of 10.04 LTS. AFAIK the
Ubuntu 10.10 that's to be downloaded does not have the 'fix' in it, but
may perhaps may be upgradeable if your initial USB has a large enough
persistent store. I wouldn't try this with a 2 Gb initial install.

So, in conclusion I feel I should amend this thread with the suggestion
that Ubuntu 10.04 LTS with a daily build of 11 Feb 2011, or later,
LiveCD version looks OK to me, but suggest that 4 Gb is a better fit
than 2 Gb for the LiveUSB. This build avoids problems I've experienced
with both Ubuntu 10.10-final and Ubuntu 11.04 beta1. It's not as elegant
and transparent as Knoppix 6.4.4, but a workable alternative.