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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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How to distro hop in a VM? (slrpnk.net)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

19 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A friend of mine mentioned that a much more efficient way to distro hop is to do it in a VM rather than boot an ISO every time. I've only ever used WINE and am unsure how to go about doing this.

What's the best way to try distro hopping and what are some easy-ish distros to try out temporarily?

I've been using Linux Mint Debian edition for a while now and am happy with it on my main machine, but want to try out some others on my spare just to make sure there's not another one that I like more.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I'd say the best way for beginners is to install VirtualBox. You will be able to take snapshots before you try something stupid, so you can always restore to a known good state. The GUI is also pretty much fool-proof.

[–] Zeon 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

VirtualBox includes non-free drivers for some features. I’d recommend using QEMU/KVM with Virt-Manager instead, since it is entirely free and open-source.

https://linuxconfig.org/setting-up-virtual-machines-with-qemu-kvm-and-virt-manager-on-debian-ubuntu

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

There is also a release of VirtualBox that uses KVM.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Virt-manager is a pain to use.

[–] Zeon 0 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Then the main question would be, do you care about using proprietary software or not?

[–] ikidd 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Just use Virtmanager or Boxes or something that doesn't use DKMS every time it updates.

Virtualbox is a bad habit that's best not to start.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

I don't have any experiences with Gnome Boxes. However, there's no denying VirtualBox is a lot more user-friendly as a GUI than virt-manager.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I don’t agree. I’m pretty sure Virtualbox has its own weird kernel module instead of KVM.

In addition, I’m pretty sure the the Virt Manager GUI has most of those features and is in general pretty easy to use.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

We're talking about someone who wants to know how to easily distro-hop. That's not an expert level user. Have you tried unmounting an iso image from a virt-manager VM? Yes, that's how bad virt-manager is as a user-facing GUI.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Yes, I've unmounted an ISO image plenty of times. The button, in my opinion, isn't that hard to find.

[–] Zeon -1 points 1 week ago

I figured out how to use virt-manager when I was 15 years old, it's not as hard as it seems.