[conspire] Advisability of CD-RW or DVD-RW for Distros, Installations?

[Mark Weisler]

I wonder what you all think of using rewritable CDs and DVDs for burning 
distros and installing from them.

I have used CD -R and DVD -R for distros but got to thinking that the distro 
will typically be useful for only a few months until the next distro comes 
out and then the CD or DVD is pretty much headed for Coasterville.

Then I started using rewriteable CDs and DVDs and they seem to work just fine 
for installing and even for use in LiveCD situations where they run a system 
for weeks or months.  Here's my take...
PRO
* the medium can be reused rather than trashed to Coasterville.
* rewriteables are good for dozens or hundreds of rewrites (probably less than 
the theoretical number of rewrite mentioned in the Wikipedia article, below)

CON
* they cost a little more (but on a per-use basis they cost less than the 
write-once media)
* they do take a while to erase and apparently a complete and thorough erase 
is necessary before writing again to the medium. (My experience is that 
the "fast erase", or whatever it is called, will often result in a faulty 
subsequent recording. So, the "complete erase" is the option that works for 
me.)
* the rewriteables may have a shorter life, 25 years, than the others, rated 
at 30 years, but for  'scratch medium' that is just not a problem.

The authoritative Wikipedia has what appears to be some good information 
here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-RW

Am I missing anything? Thanks.
-- 
Mark Weisler  
PGP: 0x68E462B6  http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
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