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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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Is there any easy way to install a Linux distribution directly to a USB drive? (lemmy.ca)

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

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I want to install Debian directly onto my USB drive. Is there an easy way to do this directly without having to reboot to run the installer?

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

So the lower-ish difficulty answer would be to run the iso installer in a VM with the usb stick forwarded to that VM.

Or you can learn what those fancy installers do: on debian you would use debootstrap

Here seems the whole guide on how to install debian manually with it:
https://gist.github.com/tr3buchet/6407920

Btw, this is also basically how you install Arch. As of until recently there wasn't any installer and you had to go through each step manually (create partitions and fs, install the base system with <insert distro specific tool>, chroot, update fstab, distro specific finishing touches, voilà)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Depending on what OP actually wants to do it might be simpler to just install Linux normally in a VM. I recommend Hyper-v if you are using Windows Pro and if you are using Windows Home I recommend upgrading to Pro using MAS scripts or using a workaround to install Hyper-V on Home.

You could also use a hypervisor like virtualbox but they are type 2 hypervisors which are usually slower compared to type 1 like Hyper-v or KVM.