 DistroWatch Weekly |
| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 2, value: US$109.17) |
|
|
|
 bc1qxes3k2wq3uqzr074tkwwjmwfe63z70gwzfu4lx  lnurl1dp68gurn8ghj7ampd3kx2ar0veekzar0wd5xjtnrdakj7tnhv4kxctttdehhwm30d3h82unvwqhhxarpw3jkc7tzw4ex6cfexyfua2nr  86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le paypal.me/distrowatchweekly • patreon.com/distrowatch |
|
| Extended Lifecycle Support by TuxCare |
|
|
| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Dual Booting (by MIke on 2018-04-23 01:06:45 GMT from Australia)
I voted Dual Boot because I use multiple Linux Distros. However I am not sure if you meant "dual boot with a proprietary system" which I do not.
2 • Wine, etc.. (by Jordan on 2018-04-23 01:13:29 GMT from United States)
Only a few percent of the survey respondents use that sort of software? I admit to being surprised at that. I thought it was the coming thing, over the years.
I don't use it, never saw the need. But I did think I was in the minority of linux users about that.
3 • running multiple operating systems (by Simon Wainscott-Plaistowe on 2018-04-23 01:36:12 GMT from New Zealand)
I've never had much luck with WINE, it won't run my accounting system and it's had problems with most of the other apps I've tried on occasion over the years. So now I use a virtual WinXP in VirtualBox to run my ageing versions of QuickBooks and Microsoft Publisher.
For testing Linux distros, I dual-boot so I'm running them on bare metal. That way I know how they perform on my actual hardware. My main OS never changes, it's been Linux Mint for 7 years now and is unlikely to change unless one of those test distros impresses me enough.
4 • dual-boot (by Bob on 2018-04-23 01:48:30 GMT from United States)
I prefer to dual-boot. It's easy and less problematic. I have a few small empty partitions available just for this reason. If I don't like the "new" OS, no problem...delete it, update the grub, and I'm back where I started.
I used to run VB, but I would encounter so many problems it wasn't worth the time and effort.
WinE...NEVER.
5 • dual-boot vs VB (by albinard on 2018-04-23 02:37:53 GMT from United States)
Glad to see other VB skeptics here! It never seemed to me a fair test of a distro to set it into such an artificial environment, especially for a QA test. And I agree, I've seen more problems with the VB than with the distro it's running.
6 • Dual booting (by Andrew on 2018-04-23 02:46:18 GMT from Canada)
I dual boot, use VMs (for other linux installs) and use WINE and PoL. I haven't found a method to get Adobe DRM for books working on Arch, and highly modded Skyrim really needs LOOT which seems to be impossible to get working on linux.
7 • Multiboot (by Malcolm on 2018-04-23 02:54:08 GMT from United States)
Definitely vote multi-boot, but not with a proprietary system. I run Arch as a grub manager/main daily driver, and multiboot other distros depending on specific case requirements. I remember back in my college years, I multibooted 14 different distros on the same laptop, but it was mostly for my own amusement and learning. Never had any issues with that setup, and performance was great as opposed to being siphoned into a vm.
8 • Multi-booting Linux distros (by Flavio R. Cavalcanti on 2018-04-23 03:00:23 GMT from Brazil)
I dualboot (or multiboot) among multiple Linux distros. ─ No proprietary system. ─ Wine for 3 very old apps, just to reuse, convert and maintain very old works (a few times a year).
9 • Dual-boot (by Angel on 2018-04-23 03:17:49 GMT from Philippines)
Hope I don't need poetic license to participate.:) I dual-boot Windows 10 and Linux. (Solus at the moment but probably going back to Mint's new LTS when it's released.) Also have VB. On the Linux side I run a copy of Windows 10 in case I need Windows without rebooting. Also a small distro used infrequently for its browser alone. Most new distros I check out I don't bother to install, so VB makes that easier. Also have VB on Windows. Mostly for the same reasons.
10 • One distro but... (by jadecat on 2018-04-23 03:20:06 GMT from United Kingdom)
Sticking with the one and only Slackware. I do use Wine for a few games older games though.
11 • Dual boot, VMs, etc. (by M. Edward (Ed) Borasky on 2018-04-23 03:43:08 GMT from United States)
My tradition has been to dual-boot laptops (Windows / Linux) and run Linux on workstations. However, I just got a new laptop in December and I've held off dual-booting it.
1. The SSD is only 128 MB and it's half full already with Windows and the apps I can't offload to the spinning 1 TB drive.
2. Hyper-V is pretty efficient these days, and I have to have it anyway for Docker.
3. Nearly every open-source app I use is available in binary for for Windows.
4. Windows Subsystem for Linux gives me a real command line.
5. Dual-booting is a hassle - I end up favoring one OS over the other for lengthy periods and then have to spend a full day catching up on updates.
So I'm holding off as long as possible.
12 • Azure Sphere OS (by Thom on 2018-04-23 04:47:18 GMT from Sweden)
It will be interesting to follow Microsoft's Linux play.
There are some past practices on their behalf that warrants caution.
In days gone by, the favorite Microsoft MO was the old EEE: embrace, extend, extinguish, perhaps most clearly seen in the Java war.
Since then Microsoft has changed in some ways but, honestly, will that particular leopard ever change its spots?
Microsoft lost the mobile war (even dragged Nokia down with them) and the possibility of them trying to regain lost ground through embedding themselves into all appliances connected is plausible.
Judging from the pattern of past behavior, expect to see Microsoft inject themselves into the supply chain through licensing fees, IP royalties, and ownership of dataformats and cloudspace.
As for the Linux they employ, expect the GPL to come under more legal pressure than ever.
13 • about dual booting (by debianxfce on 2018-04-23 05:10:34 GMT from Finland)
I think dual booting is for beginners, especially if there is the virus hoover in the mix. Running Linux distributions from a samsung evo microsd card is a clean way to test other distributions. When building a new PC and waiting the ssd to arrive (from China) it is handy to use microsd cards. I have Debian sid Xfce on a 32 GB card and Rise of the Tomb Raider (25GB) on another. My new ssd should arrive in two days.
14 • multiboot (by brad on 2018-04-23 05:30:39 GMT from United States)
Multiboot, with Win10 in the mix; I work from home occasionally, and the VPN mandated by my employer is Windows only. Manjaro is still my daily driver, with different partitions for KDE and XFCE. Antegros Cinnamon is on another partition, and I have some free space left over to try LM Cinnamon this summer, when the LTS version arrives.
I have some older laptops that use MX as the driver, and include Win10 partitions; I'm hoping to farm these out as Win10-only to others as an el-cheapo alternative to newer laptops, or to help out a friend/colleague in desperate need.
15 • Duel (sic) Booting & co. (by Someguy on 2018-04-23 05:43:19 GMT from United Kingdom)
"I run one operating system" per machine! Gave up chasing tail with every turn of the industry screw ably led by the WIntel cartel when I switched to Linux-only almost a couple of decades ago. The tail-chasing Redmond fanboys tend to give away/throw away machines every 6-12 months or when the tiniest fault occurs. Anyone can run a suite of around a dozen machines running as many Linux OSes, perhaps for the cost of a new coin cell/DVD or HD swap/BIOS update/w.h.y. - parts are cheap if swaps aren't available, InterWeb and *tube is awash with advice and how-to videos for those not acquainted; still hesitant - call in any six-year old and give them a screwdriver. Linux usually doesn't need the hardware bloat. Only need one s.o.t.a. machine to run current mainline distro, everything else goes on the other boxes. Keep one of those to clone drives as daily/weekly/fortnightly backups.
16 • VMs... (by Becky on 2018-04-23 06:34:43 GMT from New Zealand)
I have dual-boot on the ‘more traditional’ PCs and it’s usually the current or last version running as 2nd-fiddle to Windows 10.
On my primary machine - a reasonably well-specified iMac - I use a mix of VB and VMware Fusion - because I find them both to be very satisfactory... but they do have individual strengths - hence using both!
17 • Multi-booting... (by OstroL on 2018-04-23 08:14:36 GMT from Poland)
There was a time, when I multi-booted with Linux only. (At that time, I had a grudge against Win 7.) Few years ago, I got a laptop with Win 10 and liked it, so won't be throwing away a pretty good OS. (Since then I have 3 laptops with Win 10). Two laptops are multi-booting with Win 10 and Linux (Arch, Debian, customised 'buntus). Don't want to use Wine, when one can simply change the OS. Will not throw away a very well working OS, just for ideological reasons.
18 • Multiple OSs (by John on 2018-04-23 08:17:27 GMT from United States)
Hi All,
I have been using multiple OSs by putting each on a seperate SD and plugging that into an SD to USB2 adapter. Right now I have SDs for AntiX so I can do KICAD and wsjtx, Debian 8.8 so I can print, Knoppix 7.2, 7.6, 7.71, and 8.1 and Debian 9.4.0 so I can run TIs CCS version 8. Works great seems as fast as the internal drive which I only use for data storage.
Works slick :).
I am typing this on an AntiX SD plugged into a USB2 adapter on a Toshiba laptop.
Makes backup EASY and reliable.
John - Concord, NH
19 • Dualboot (by X-Hacker on 2018-04-23 08:39:08 GMT from Greece)
I dualboot Windows 10 with MX Linux. W10 for gaming & MX for everything else.
20 • Dual Boot (by Herold on 2018-04-23 08:44:12 GMT from Germany)
I dual boot but mostly us Manjaro on the desktop, Im getting a bit tired of the breakages every few months though and planning to move to Devuan. Second os is Mint which I rarely use anymore. Devuan testing has become my boot choice on the EEPC and T420 Laptop, For a testing version It is amazingly fast and totally stable.
Microsoft embracing linux, that is a planned hug of death for sure.
Since the FORCED upgrade to win 10 I vowed to use none of their products and will do my best to keep things that way.
The B*Tards upgraded my laptop overnight without asking, in result it made my vehicle diagnosis system unusable, and turned the laptop in to a slug.
21 • Dual boot Win 10 and Ubuntu Mate (by Ali Yasser on 2018-04-23 09:13:33 GMT from India)
I dual boot Win 10 and Ubuntu Mate 16.04. I'm really quite jealous of people here who use Linux exclusively :) Some software that I use at work is only available for Windows, and it's so much easier to use MS Word for resumes and other stuff. LibreOffice is good but because it uses non-Windows fonts, you can never be 100% sure that the documents you saved as PDF on it will display correctly on other people's machines. Windows/MS Office makes it very convenient for you to work with other users. Nevertheless, I've always loved Linux and keep using it off and on.
22 • Dual boot and VB (by TheTKS on 2018-04-23 10:34:40 GMT from Canada)
Multiboot and VB home computers.
10 year old box Xubuntu only, original Win XP wiped, Win 7 capable but won’t ever get Win again.
New box multiboot W10 (came with the computer, keep in case needed), Kubuntu, elementary, Slackware, and VB in a Linux to test drive OpenBSD.
This arrangement will change with this round of recent and upcoming updates in those distros, but what will stay the same is one distro on the old box, and multiboot (and probably VB) on the new box.
TKS
23 • Dual Boot (by KevinC on 2018-04-23 10:59:45 GMT from South Africa)
Dual boot WIN7 & Linux Lite. LL my everyday OS and 7 for light gaming, DAW (Studio One) and Sony Vegas
24 • wine (by dave on 2018-04-23 11:11:01 GMT from United States)
Still using Wine for the one program I cannot live without in Linux - Photoshop 7.
25 • dual boot, wine & vm's (by Fox on 2018-04-23 11:25:53 GMT from Canada)
As much as I would want to run Linux only, there are occasions when I need one of the proprietary oses. On my 2011 iMac I have a dual boot setup with Ubuntu 17.10 and MacOS High Sierra. I rarely boot into the Mac, but there are two pieces of software that occasionally require it. I have to run MS Office quite frequently, and for that I use the 2010 version running under CrossOver; it's pretty flawless. But I also have a Windows 7 vm, which I had to use recently to run tax software. I have Foxit Reader, which runs natively in Linux for most PDF editing, but it doesn't work for most PDF's that you fill out as forms. For that I have to boot into Acrobat DC, usually on my Windows 7 vm. I could do that on the Mac side, but why reboot just for that when the vm (VirtualBox) works perfectly well. Once I converted from Mac to Linux I started looking at Ultrabooks for mobile computing, and ended up with a Dell XPS 13. I run Ubuntu 16.04 on it, but kept the Windows 10 as a dual boot. Again, I rarely boot into it, but had to for tax software. I don't see any downside of keeping the OS the computer came with as a dual boot, as long as I have sufficient disk space.
26 • No boot (by Gary W on 2018-04-23 12:15:17 GMT from Australia)
I don't dual boot. In fact I don't reboot at all, if I can avoid it (new kernel, or some sort of major failure). However, I do have a spare partition to simplify upgrades. I don't need to boot different distros at different times as I have several spare computers. I don't use Windows, although I have a couple of machines with Vista and Win 10 partitions, for "resale value".
27 • multi-boot (by wally on 2018-04-23 13:21:27 GMT from United States)
All my systems have at least 3 boot OSs, some combination of Linuxes and Win10.
Debian is the primary on all sys excepts my wife's Win10.
Wine has never done what I need. VB works well but no more useful than separate boot in my case.
Sadly, there is always some major app that can only run on Windows, so it always has to be available.
28 • Dual boot, etc. (by DaveW on 2018-04-23 13:32:05 GMT from United States)
My everyday machine is linux only. I dual-boot Mint, Arch and any other distro currently under consideration. I do use VirtualBox to get a cursory look at new distros. I also have a laptop with Win10 only, but I rarely use it.
@25 Fox: I find that the Win version of Foxit Reader, running under Wine, fills out PDF forms nicely. Although Okular does a better job when it comes to printing them.
29 • @25 (by kc1di on 2018-04-23 13:49:16 GMT from United States)
Try Master PDF works great for editing pdfs.
30 • Multiple OS's (by rdaniels on 2018-04-23 14:05:13 GMT from United States)
I used to use a combination of dual-booting (for gaming) and WINE (for any other Windows programs I needed on Linux). The first was always a hassle, and the second just never worked very well for me.
Once video card passthrough to VMs became a thing, I switched to that and have had no desire to return to the old methods.
31 • Wine & VM's (by Oliver Deex on 2018-04-23 14:05:28 GMT from United States)
I run wine for the simple programs that it handles well, e.g. Moffet FreeCalc, Qimage, a free edition of Networx, Reminders. I run a legal edition of Windows 7 as a VMware virtual machine for Quicken10, CheckPrinter, OneTouch and a Canon PIXMA2600 which will not run on wine or Linux. My main Linux OS is Mint 18.3 xfce. I have used Xubuntu as my Linux OS in the past and may switch back to it or to openSUSE if I keep getting error messages when I update Mint (even tough it seems to update OK). I also have a legal VM of Windows 10 but I am not very enthusiastic about Windows 10 which floods me with pop-ups I don't need. But I have not worked with it to tame it. In the past I have used dual boot (Windows & Linux) with success but since Windows cannot be put on a machine second and I started my current computer with Mint after a crash, I use a VM for windows. I have tried VirtualBox for VM's but I like VMware a bit better, although VirtualBox seems to work OK.
32 • None of the above (by Trihexagonal on 2018-04-23 14:08:31 GMT from United States)
I use FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Solaris but have several different laptops with interchangeable HDD for each. I never dual-boot or use a VM.
I dedicate at least one machine for each OS but also have extra HDD so the same box can be running a different OS in a matter of minutes. I have a Win10Pro HDD for one, but only use it to play Oblivion and an OpenBSD HDD for anything else.
33 • dual-boot (by vern on 2018-04-23 14:30:16 GMT from United States)
Actually, I do a quad boot and then some.
I have windows and three linux distros all on separate partitions. Also I config my grub2 to boot several ISO's using loop-back.
Using virtual box, it works until installed, then graphics shows up and it all goes haywire.
34 • Multiboot (by Fantomas on 2018-04-23 14:41:53 GMT from France)
/ I Multiboot on logical Partitions, encrypt just the home folder. Am using only Debian based Distros. Maybe I like the bare Metal scenario.
/ Virtualbox I use just to check the Visual aspect of new Distro and what Software is on it. (I am looking at Gnomeboxes and I might use it more, compare to Oracles VB)
/ Wine I was using years ago, for running Win Exam Simulation Software in how to say..Off line mode. Now I do not use Wine at all, ZERO, Wine, except
the real one from Italy or France.
I need to hibernate under my Rock for little, so excuse me.
Thank you, for the newest Movie Distro Watch, and thank you all. Till next time. Bye.
35 • Dual Boot vs Virtual Machines (by Pete on 2018-04-23 14:55:24 GMT from United States)
I have used both methods ion most of my pc's, but am now using a different technique without the issues of these two methods. Dual booting with Windows can be dangerous to your data and its use can result in a large waste of time to recover your Windows data and configuration. Virtual machines work well but they are a little slower than running the operating system or Distribution directly from the storage volume. Virtual Machines are great for rapidly switching between distributions even with a slight slowing of responses. Currently I use my BIOS to make the selection of operating system. MY PC has 6 SATA ports and each port is connected to an inexpensive SSD. I load between one to four distributions on each SSD. To switch operating systems, I exit a Distributions and reboot through POST (mine is fast) hit F-2 and select my distribution from up to 18 possible distributions on SATA and more if they are LIVE USBs connected to one of my USB 3.1 ( Gen 2) ports. The advantages are no corrupted GRUB issues with Windows ( very common) and no latency contributed by the hypervisor. Also not all of my operating systems will work well with a Virtual Machine.
36 • WINE (by J.P.G. on 2018-04-23 14:56:37 GMT from Spain)
WINE.
Just to run WinRAR for batch conversion from .rar to .zip.
37 • rankings (by David on 2018-04-23 14:58:34 GMT from United States)
We should have two columns for popularity... one for hits at distrowatch, and one for hits at google (see google trends).
38 • VMs and wine (by Wally on 2018-04-23 15:14:18 GMT from United States)
I use VMs on multiple systems of mine. I use Wine on pretty much every GNU/Linux installation at least for running Irfanview. The last time I dual-booted was back for Windows 98 SE and Windows 2000.
39 • Dual Boot and Dosbox (by Gordie on 2018-04-23 15:39:49 GMT from Canada)
I don't like VM. I have tried it and find it slow and not representative of what an operating system is capable of on my hardware.
My laptop has Slackware64-14.2 as the only operating system.
My desktop has Windows 10 and Slackware64-current dual booting,
On both computers I make use of Dosbox to run an old program that I really like and have been unable to find an equivalent for
40 • Dual-boot etc (by David on 2018-04-23 15:52:45 GMT from United Kingdom)
I wonder if I'm unique in having *nested* compatibility software: Wine to run a QL emulator to run the Minerva OS to run a custom program from the 1980s!
41 • virtualbox (by Tim on 2018-04-23 16:02:19 GMT from United States)
I picked "I run one OS" but I do use virtualbox for one reason- I have an old version of Debian Squeeze running in it so I can use some older applications I like, like Kompozer. I disabled networking since it no longer gets security updates.
I think that's one place virtual machines really are useful- if you're invested in a piece of software you really can keep running it indefinitely.
42 • VirtualBox (by Tech in Warner Springs on 2018-04-23 19:08:47 GMT from United States)
Not unlike others who have tried and failed with Dual-Booting, I gave up on that configuration and went with Oracle's VirtualBox.
I have a high-end laptop, (Acer Predator 17x), that I use for my work in Astrophysics. I have 6 VM's running different applications for my telescopes and various other streaming/multimedia applications. VM's in multiple windows saves me time and the inconvenience of running Dual-Boot operating systems from multiple machines. I agree with others that there is a hit in performance with VM's but it's worth it. I can easily create snapshots of multiple machines and if something goes array I can always revert back to a known good configuration.
43 • Multiple booting (by Terry Smith on 2018-04-23 19:12:21 GMT from United States)
I basically run linux but can and do run virtual systems via virtualbox on a few occasions. I have a grub.cfg that can boot Mint, Lubuntu, or Debian. I can also boot Windows as the current desktop was purchased as a 'deal' with Windows 7 installed. I repartitioned that drive to add a couple of other partitions and I added a 2tb drive which I partitioned to handle my 'core' linux distros. Been doing things that way for 5-6 years, simply installing a new distro (or an upgrade) to the existing partition set aside for that distro.
44 • dual-boot (by Bob on 2018-04-23 19:21:10 GMT from United States)
@ 17 - "At that time, I had a grudge against Win 7"
The exact reason I started using Linux. Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala was the first Linux disto I tried. Win 7 and 9.10 were both released in October 2009. Now, I'm running Xubuntu 16.04 daily.
45 • Dual Booting (by Paul Nodine on 2018-04-23 19:45:21 GMT from United States)
I used to dual boot but then got a lenovo 2-1 laptop if I ever need to use windows. Have gone though a lot of distros but have been running KDE Neon for awhile now.
Also long time reader, first time poster
46 • todays pole (by JimM on 2018-04-23 19:49:43 GMT from United States)
I did not vote! I use multiple partitions on my linux computers. I've had as many as 12 different distros on a single HDD. I use gparted and generally a 20GB partition for each distro and use the grub-customizer for selections. My main Intel NUC desktop with a 250GB SSD has LinuxMint 18.3 Mate, Solus Budgie, Solus Mate, and MX17.1.
47 • Dual booting (by eznix on 2018-04-23 21:07:22 GMT from United States)
Last time I dual booted was early 2000's. Ever since its been 100% Linux on my main computer with WinXP or 7 in a virtualbox just in case I need to answer a family member's question about Windows. I have been running Ubuntu, Xubuntu, and now straight Debian solid since 2005. I play with others in VB, but that is all. I have spare hard drives and spare machines I use to tinker and play with installations on metal. Last time I multi-booted, it was Windows 98 + OpenLinux 2.4 + BeOS - and that was just a couple weeks ago for YT!
48 • Virtual Machines (by Sean on 2018-04-23 21:29:00 GMT from United Kingdom)
I've used Virtualbox (stable & good enough for my usage) on a Linux host system (currently Mint LTS) for years. Multiple different Linux & Win client o/s. Dedicated host & client SSDs make for easy o/s & hardware upgrades. Lots of memory & CPU cores help reduce the performance hit.
Agree with comment #42 for snapshots, also easy cloning to try out major updates with no ill effects.
Full functionality via remote access is also useful.
49 • Different operation system (by Garon on 2018-04-23 22:26:38 GMT from United States)
I do dual boot and also use Virtualbox. No problems really. I do have to use Windows because PLC software will not run using Linux. So sad. For all my old dos games, and I have a lot, I use DosBox. Also if set up properly WINE can run a lot of software made for Windows.
50 • Opinion Poll _ Dual booting (by john on 2018-04-23 23:03:12 GMT from Ireland)
I have one main operating system and have Virtualbox installed. I chose VB because its open source and fully-featured. I have a bunch of vm's installed and use my setup to practice pen-testing. Admittedly, I've run into problems installing some Linux OS's as vm's but have never encountered any problems with the more 'polished' distributions. Windows 10 was a headache to install. I like my set-up (it suits my needs) and prefer virtual machines, but wouldn't have a problem with a straight-up dual boot, should I need it. One thing I will say; have plenty of RAM at your disposal for going the virtual route.
51 • Dualboot (by Dhoni on 2018-04-23 23:05:56 GMT from Indonesia)
I've been dual boot since my win xp laptop broken and its so hard to reinstall it because i dont have ext cdrom for that laptop. Its arround 7 years ago, i start using linux for work.
From there i always use dual boot on my notebook, usually windows + 1 linux distro.
Now im using win 10 + mint kde (will change to ubuntu lts for its snap app)
52 • I run XP in a VM on VB on Linux (by greenpossum on 2018-04-24 01:25:46 GMT from Australia)
I have a photo scanner program (no Linux equivalent) that I run in a VM XP, using USB forwarding (great feature). If XP goes pear shaped, I can revert to a snapshot. And of course I can be doing other things on Linux during the scanning which can take minutes per film strip or set of slides.
I try out other Linux distros in VMs too. Don't have problems with VB, mature distros have no problems with it.
Multibooting is too disruptive, my computer runs all the time and cron jobs do things automatically.
53 • Dual Boot (by Bobby Doogle on 2018-04-24 04:09:07 GMT from United States)
I prefer to install on a separate hard drive, and NOT use a boot manager, beyond whatever is auto installed by each OS on it's own drive, and select my boot drive in my BIOS. This wasn't an option so I'm throwing it out.
54 • #53 (by James M on 2018-04-24 07:44:16 GMT from United States)
#53 Option #1 would have been the pick in this case. You could argue what it wasn't comprehensive enough. Its not meant to be. The choices cover a slew of factors, and so they have to be like that. Its frustrating, I know. But, that is what the comment section is for, to explain your answer.
55 • Opinion poll (by Grraf on 2018-04-24 08:15:29 GMT from Romania)
I'm a full time arch user that relies on wine for a couple old games(age of empires&few others in the ~2k period) lucky enough all my current gaming needs are either covered by native linux versions or by wine...
PS: ditched the widows joyride around Vista and i have no desire to ever return to that insanity
56 • Dual booting versus virtual machines (by JIm on 2018-04-24 10:47:08 GMT from United States)
I dual boot. I tried Virtual Machines and have no use for them.
57 • Multi-Boot (by Winchester on 2018-04-24 12:35:29 GMT from United States)
Alpine Linux XFCE
PClinuxOS Trinity
Solus OS
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed LXQt
Korora Cinnamon
Calculate Linux Desktop Mate / BlackBox / LXDE
Netrunner - Debian Version - KDE Plasma 5
PALDO ( Gnome 3 )
ROSA KDE 4
RedCore GNU / Linux
Porteus : Off Of USB Stick ; the rest on partitions
Qubes looks interesting but not compatible with my hardware.
Open partition probably will go to Void Linux or Slackware.
58 • Dual booting (by proxy on 2018-04-24 13:15:39 GMT from United States)
I dual boot and use virtualbox.
I run three distro's from partitions - freebsd, slackware and lmde.
Windows OS's get run in virtual environment.
I use wine for one program.
59 • Dual boot or not? (by OstroL on 2018-04-24 14:32:59 GMT from Poland)
Dual boot or not, we'd be using the same applications, for example, the web browsers are the same, and we do most our computer time on the net - not just browsing, but working too.
60 • dual booting (by codekoala on 2018-04-24 17:10:21 GMT from United States)
I have been running a Windows 10 VM via kvm/libvirt for gaming for the past couple of years. This allows me to keep my normal working environment up and running while I game for an hour or two throughout the week. It's also great for the occasional document that I receive for work that doesn't render nicely in LibreOffice. Additionally, I can dual boot into the same Windows install natively because the VM has a dedicated SSD for its primary volume.
Aside from that, I don't use VMs for other systems as much as I used to. If I want to tinker with another distro, I'll install it on a spare machine.
61 • @59 (by Fantomas on 2018-04-24 19:08:04 GMT from France)
Yes you are right in your way. Consider, that If some of us Multi-Boot. It does not mean we use the same language on each system and perhaps some VPN..That belongs to different Company / on each Distro.. Yes I then still use the same browser, but I can appear an look on the Net as an pregnant women that goes to MC, all the time. Showing up from the US, while I am in Zimbabwe. Any how, so what is your point? Can you elaborate? Because this is not what DistroW. Opinion Pool is asking. If not Its ok. Do not take it personally. I do not understand your posting. Again you are right in your thinking, but this is not what we are after.
62 • @57 (by Fantomas on 2018-04-24 19:12:05 GMT from France)
Amazing Distro Configuration. I bet you will go with Void Linux, and you make some nice Room for Slackware at the same time.
63 • Currently I'm testing VB in Win... ups! (by Carlos on 2018-04-24 23:02:49 GMT from Spain)
Hi,
Currently I'm testing VB in Windows10 host with several Linux guests and I must to say that this combination is very interesting to keep the "servers" in VM. And the main desktop in Windows.
I wrote "servers" between quotes because don't serves nothing :) are only installed to training, test and study, in other words they have no load or resource eating.
In any case I feel no happy with Windows, the last contact with this OS was in the past century, because of this I will back to Debian as host, a VB guest with OpenVZ VM and into these a lot of containers :D
64 • dual boot (by excollier on 2018-04-25 10:13:25 GMT from Ireland)
I triple boot 3 different Linux and use Windows 10 in VirtualBox on two of them for work (redundancy, you know)
65 • Opinion Poll (by changeling on 2018-04-25 12:26:34 GMT from United States)
I use both Virtual Machines and Wine for Windows programs: Wine if it works better/well enough, or a virtual machine if the program doesn't run well in Wine or it performs significantly better than in Wine.
66 • VirtualBox (by Jyrki on 2018-04-25 16:04:51 GMT from Czech Republic)
I don't use Windows either in dual boot mode or virtual machine, I gave up on using Windows sometimes almost 20 years ago. And I don't run Wine because simply I don't know any Windows programs that doesn't have sufficient alternative in Linux.
I run Artix as main distro on all but one PC where I run DragonFlyBSD as main system.
As other members of family use my PCs, I do dual boot, just in case upgrade goes wrong on main system, I can still boot backup system to do work, play multimedia and fix the main system in my spare time.
I run Virtualbox where I test other distros I am interested in - Void, Antergos, Arco; or BSDs - FreeBSD, OpenBSD and DragonFly.
I also run one instance of Artix in Virtualbox....so dualbooting is just to be 100% sure I always have a working option...
67 • Poll (by Datsun on 2018-04-25 18:50:38 GMT from France)
I was going to vote on your Dual booting versus virtual machines poll, but the option i use is missing.
I use a laptop where i can quickly swap Hard Drives. This makes it very easy to hop between Windows 10, Kubuntu and OpenSuse.
Voila !!!
68 • @ 67 (by OstroL on 2018-04-25 19:46:14 GMT from Poland)
"I use a laptop where i can quickly swap Hard Drives. This makes it very easy to hop between Windows 10, Kubuntu and OpenSuse."
You don't dual boot, but triple hard drive swap, or you hop drives...
69 • @67 (by Fantomas on 2018-04-25 21:07:47 GMT from United Kingdom)
Any experience to share, with external hard drive cases, with standard laptop Hdd in them, connecting via USB, and boot from them. I know its slower, but the HDD swapping, can be aggravating over time.. May I ask your opinion about it? Tx.
My fantasy; I like to have some laptop, from the Matrix Movie, where you swap HDD on the fly..Maybe that is some Idea for some Manufacturer from China. I hope who reads this. O_O
70 • dual boot, etc.. (by Jordan on 2018-04-26 15:12:27 GMT from United States)
I did it once, back several years ago; Windows XP and PCLinuxOS.
Gave it up. It seemed stupid to continue with Windows on my hard drive when I knew Linux was superior.
So cleaned the HD altogether and did PCLOS with several other tries at various distros.
Then it seemed stupid to have anything but my most useful, favorite distro.. that took a bit of time, and coming and going with Solus, Manjaro, MX, and Gecko/OpenSuse.
Came back to Manjaro and can't bring myself to putting another distro on here. I'll mess around with those on another laptop.
71 • Poll (by Justin on 2018-04-26 19:25:39 GMT from United States)
I used to live boot into Knoppix because it had codecs to play videos I couldn't play in Windows Media Player. Rebooting every time I wanted to watch something was real pain, and I eventually discovered ffmpeg and later VLC.
I never got into dual booting and don't quite understand the "right" way to do it with UEFI, legacy, etc. I suppose I could learn, but I discovered VMs around the time I was going to experiment. I started with VMware player (hacked text files to create my own VMs) and then moved to VirtualBox when I migrated to Linux. I use VMs for software I don't want to install in the OS (keep it lean and mean). I also used Linux versions to force me to learn, which made my migration easier (same with Firefox, VLC, and other cross-platform apps; when XP ended, so did Windows for me).
Today, I use VMs. I bought a ton of RAM for this purpose and actually run the VMs out of a ramdisk, so I get really faster performance (better than a native install). Containers is another interesting question, and I've used Rancher OS, but I'd rather have the full VM isolation if I'm going that route (or firejail). I used Wine for a while for 1-2 niche applications and have since dropped it completely (still installed just in case).
72 • Ubuntu 18.04 (by roosterjoe on 2018-04-27 11:17:47 GMT from United States)
Great a new release of Ubuntu, excellent review by Das Bityard!
Look forward running a test install
Bionic Beaver?
73 • Apologies (by Fantomas on 2018-04-27 20:22:35 GMT from France)
I apologize. I should not write about, what happened on here with no expl.
Problem is solved, with fresh Install. CPU for no reason was running high, and some other
symptoms showed, up but could be Linux in general. I do not know why, but years ago, Linux was not
doing very strange stuff, like today occasionally, so its tempting to blame..Just new observation in this department I need to work on, before I post something. My Apologies again to DistroW and MX.
74 • Dual Boot (by penguinx64 on 2018-04-29 02:58:34 GMT from Bahrain)
I used to dual boot. But when I had to reinstall 1 OS, it was a pain to reinstall both OS's. Also, my previous computers didn't have enough memory to run virtual machines and didn't support 64 bit OS virtual machines. And some OS's like Fedora make it nearly impossible to dual boot. Now I have a 15 inch laptop with an AMD quad core processor and 16gb of RAM setup to run virtual machines. My main OS is Linux Mint and virtual machines run in VirtualBox. Linux Mint has lower system requirements than Windows, leaving more computing power for virtual machines. VirtualBox makes it easy to install, reinstall or uninstall an OS, without losing all of my personal data on the main OS. Plus, Linux Mint and VirtualBox are FREE. I haven't dual booted in years.
75 • Post # 74 (by Winchester2579 on 2018-04-29 12:17:29 GMT from United States)
When you re-install 1 OS on a dual-boot or multi-boot machine,you don't have to reinstall both operating systems and you don't lose data other than what is on the partition you're installing to.
That's the whole idea behind separate partitions.
And the data on the target partition can be pasted to another partition beforehand.
In post #57 ,you will see that Korora can be installed along with multiple other OS. It can't be much different from Fedora as it is basically the same thing but shipped with some extra stuff.
The key to multi-boot is to familiarize with adding custom boot-loader entries to the main bootloader. In some cases an essential step after any new installation. In other cases,just updating the main bootloader is enough.
If the automatically generated bootloader entry doesn't work,usually you can just copy and paste the entry from the new OS's (secondary ; the 1 not in the MBR or whatever) bootloader config file into the main bootloader's (the one being used to boot the computer) custom file and then update the configuration.
Just watch out for any OS (such as Slackware and many of its derivatives) that will re-format the SWAP partition in it's installation process. If that happens,you may have to edit in the new SWAP UUID into all of the other OS's /etc/fstab files.
Once you're familiar,it's quite easy.
Number of Comments: 75
Display mode: DWW Only • Comments Only • Both DWW and Comments
| | |
| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Archives |
| • Issue 1162 (2026-03-02): AerynOS 2026.01, anti-virus and firewall tools, Manjaro fixes website certificate, Ubuntu splits firmware package, jails for NetBSD, extended support for some Linux kernel releases, Murena creating a map app |
| • Issue 1161 (2026-02-23): The Guix package manager, quick Q&As, Gentoo migrating its mirrors, Fedora considers more informative kernel panic screens, GhostBSD testing alternative X11 implementation, Asahi makes progress with Apple M3, NetBSD userland ported, FreeBSD improves web-based system management |
| • Issue 1160 (2026-02-16): Noid and AgarimOS, command line tips, KDE Linux introduces delta updates, Redox OS hits development milestone, Linux Mint develops a desktop-neutral account manager, sudo developer seeks sponsorship |
| • Issue 1159 (2026-02-09): Sharing files on a network, isolating processes on Linux, LFS to focus on systemd, openSUSE polishes atomic updates, NetBSD not likely to adopt Rust code, COSMIC roadmap |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
| • Issue 1157 (2026-01-26): Setting up a home server, what happened to convergence, malicious software entering the Snap store, postmarketOS automates hardware tests, KDE's login manager works with systemd only |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
|
| Random Distribution | 
Arudius
Arudius was a live CD Linux distribution based on Slackware Linux, Zenwalk Linux and Linux Live scripts. It contains an extensive set of software tools used by IT security professionals for penetration testing and vulnerability analysis. Its goal was to include the most complete set of useful security tools and still maintain a small footprint.
Status: Discontinued
|
| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
