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9

Is there a mininal, command-line-only distribution of Ubuntu or similar that runs within MS Windows

rated 0 times [ 9] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 17424 / 2 Years ago, wed, may 4, 2022, 4:26:37

I'm looking for a distribution of Linux (hopefully similar to or based upon Ubuntu) which satisfies the following criteria:

Installs from and runs within Windows;

Doesn't need to partition or dual-boot;

Boots to a shell within Windows.

Ideally I'd like to click a shortcut on the Windows desktop and have a Linux shell appear in a command-prompt-style window. Obviously performance is unimportant since I assume a filesystem-within-a-filesystem is going to be slow.

I've found distros like PortableUbuntu and PenDriveLinux, but they all seem to be either out-of-date, minimally-supported, or too large.

Is there anything like that out there?

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torlim

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answered 2 Years ago cugure · Accepted Answer

You might find that something like coLinux or andLinux might be slightly lighter but personally, I'd choose a VirtualPC/VirtualBox/VMWare virtual machine every time.

The problem with the xming-style native builds of Linux distributions is they're very non-standard. They're hacks to serve a purpose. They might fit your purpose but I prefer to have standard things available. With a VM you can port to a proper bare-metal install if the need ever arises.