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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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WSL vs. Dual Booting vs. virtualbox (lemmy.world)

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

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I have a friend thats setting up linux (ubuntu) on his machine. He has a windows installation. I personally use mac as my primary OS, but I've had a linux partition on my machine as well, and I'm having a slightly hard time giving him good advice as to what solution he should choose when setting up linux (I don't even know how I would partition a disk on a windows machine to prep it for dual booting).

My question is quite simple: What are the pros/cons of WSL vs. Dual Booting vs. Virtualbox, both with regards to setup and with regards to usage?

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

WSL: If your friend is a dev and needs Linux cli utilities, use this. Dual Boot: If your friend wants to daily drive Linux, use this. Shrink Windows NTFS partition within Windows then install Linux to blank space. Virtualbox: Testing ground for dual boot, your friend can familiarise themselves with Linux safely using a VM.

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

This is what I was going to say.

If they're a dev WSL is a godsend for development.
If they are looking to move away from windows, dual boot or live cd/thumb drive are good ways to test things out.

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

I never got around to using WSL for dev stuff, sadly. I was stuck on Windows 7 until December 2019 and have had a Mac for work ever since. For personal stuff I just use the MSYS environment included in Git for windows (it has bash and a few other things). If I ever got a Windows laptop for work again I'd probably put the time in to learn WSL.