75
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
75 points (98.7% liked)
Linux
56684 readers
793 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
I had no idea this was a thing! So I can basically put a Linux distibution on a USB, boot into bios and run Linux without installing anything over my existing hdd? Researching a virtual machine has been on my radar, is that basically what this is?
Yeah, download the ISO, use a media writer to put it on any kind of removable media, plug it in, reboot, and you'll have a fully functional desktop in a few minutes are running in memory. This is the way it should be tested, and it gives you the option to test as many as you want to find the one that fits for you.
The only caveat is that it's running completely in-memory as I said, so if you plan on testing out installing software to test, keep in mind your usual amount of RAM available will be slightly reduced.
If everything looks great, then you'll have the ability to install directly, without harming your Windows partition. PLEASE BACK YOUR STUFF UP ANYWAY.