Quote from the PLoP homepage
Quote:
PLoP Linux is not for beginners. Use it at your own risk.
I assume you tried to install both make and gcc from source. Since both are coded in C, they will require an already installed C compiler. Since a rescue disk probably has no package management (which isn't really required as you seldom need to make changes) you're pretty much out of luck here. Your only option would be to unpack the distribution, compile gcc linked against the libraries there, and pack it again.
If you're new to Linux, I'd suggest starting with [Ku,Xu,U]buntu or Mint, or, if you don't want to install anything, Knoppix, since it will let you create a file on a existing drive to use for user data.