this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2025
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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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Not really sure how dualbooting or vms work at their core. I'm kind of over windows and want to swap, always liked the customizability aspect and have been using Linux more and more for self hosting purposes. Was wondering if I setup linux on my external ssd using a vm if I could change it from vm to a dualboot drive after I'm done setting it up. That way I could setitup and swap to it while keepign my original ssd with my windows install,. and not have to deal with dualbooting and going back and forth while setting up?

Can I make a vm of my current windows machine backup and run that in a linux setup?

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

There are some setups that allow you to do this.

  • nixOS or nix + home-manager on some other distro, but it's a high skill-floor way to manage a computer so wouldn't recommend

  • window manager heavy setup where you just set it up then copy over the config files to the new install, a bit of a pain to first customize but viable if you're willing to ditch mouse-heavy desktop experience in favor for keyboard and shortcut focus to control everything.

Apart from those two cases, not really.