Multi-OS setup: dual/multi-boot vs virtualbox

[Bill Oliver]

On Mon, 26 Oct 2015, Ed Greshko wrote:

>
>
> On 10/26/2015 05:55 AM, Max Pyziur wrote:
>> I'm a novice at assessing the question of  multi-boot vs using
>> virtualbox....
>>
>> [snip]
>
> Sounds as if you're asking for opinions.  So, I'll give you mine.
>
> I've never used dual-boot and never saw the need in my use case.  The
> only reason I would consider using dual-boot over VM's is if I were a
> "gamer", and I'm not.  I use Windows for a few things but the things I
> use it for don't benefit from direct access to the video hardware.
> Also, the things I use Windows for don't suffer from any performance
> issues running in a VM.
>
>


I still *try* (see below) to do a dual boot setup because of the occasional hardware issue.

For instance, the linux driver for my flatbed scanner is no longer supported (an Epson V330) in linux.  It *used* to be supported, but Epson stopped updating the linux driver in 2012.  Now, it's a pain to load all the deprecated libraries that are necessary to make the thing work.  However, Epson still cranks out Windows drivers.

I can't get the drivers to work on Windows XP in virtualbox (which I have for the rare software I need to run on Windows), so I *try* to keep a Windows distro on as a dual boot for when I need to scan something (yes, I'm too cheap to buy a new scanner).

On the other hand... I have a habit of re-installing different linux distros on a whim just to see how they work.  Right now, I'm running Kubuntu, but will probably switch to Fedora 23 when it comes out next week (and there's virtualbox kernal mods available).

One of the problems with obsessive installing of random distros, is that it seems almost inevitable that one way or another I'll screw up the repartition.  There's a couple of distros (I can't remember which) out there that don't make it easy to do custom partitioning on installation; it's easy to hit the wrong button and, poof, the Windows partition is gone.

That's what I get for doing my installations while watching TV and drinking Tennessee whiskey...

I did that when installing some distro a month or two ago, I think it was Kali, and I lost my Windows partition.  I've noticed that I really don't miss it.  I now keep an old laptop with a slightly cracked screen and Windows on it hooked up to my scanner, and I just use that box with I have to scan something.  I like having the extra disk space to hold all my junk linux files that I'm too paranoid to delete.

It's becoming less and less useful to have a dual-boot machine, I think, and I have a bad feeling about Windows 10 wrt privacy.

So, two years ago, I'd have been a big proponent of dual boot.  Today, not so much, particularly is you have an old obsolete box that can run some version of Windows that you can hook that old obsolete peripheral to.

If I were to go out and buy a new laptop today, I'd probably make a half-hearted attempt to maintain a Windows partition, but then I'd eventually screw it up -- and wouldn't really care.

Maybe I should write a manual on "Jack Daniels school of system admin."


billo