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Dual Boot

niemiaszek edited this page Dec 3, 2022 · 1 revision

General

If your parents are not programmers, then most likely you were raised using desktop or laptop with Windows or MacOS.

These are really good as Desktop OS. Here you can see that Windows runs on ~74% of devices, MacOS on ~15% and Linux on only ~2%.

Then situation changes for servers, mobile devices or embedded. Most of biggest servers runs on Linux, same for most non-Apple smartphones, TVs, smartwatches. Raspberry Pi and Nvidia Jetson used by us also use Linux.

With this introduction you should be convinced, that Linux is worth to explore, even if it seems geeky or nerdy at the beginning. Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of Linux Desktop usage, as I find MacOS or Windows better for daily usage (business stuff, entertainmnet, etc...). But there are some fields where it is hard to escape Linux and it actually is the best OS for these tasks.

For example, for Machine Learning there is giantic advantage of using Linux, as every serious PC with multiple GPUs used for NN training will be running Linux. This makes Linux widely supported, so you can easily resolve many problems. Also most of the tools are targeted for Linux, so you don't have to worry about constant problem-solving or strange installations.

Why not VM? (like VirtualBox)

These VMs suck. You can't access GPU, cameras. Everything is just not working, and even if it is, then performance is tragic. Don't even think about it.

Why not WSL2?

WSL2 is really good tool for Windows. It allows you to run linux terminal directly in your running Windows. For much of the work you might not even need to get Linux as standalone OS on your computer - you are fine with WSL. At this moment it might be even possible to use your GPU inside of WSL.

But again, there is a problem when you try use ZED Camera. Or maybe something else. Maybe sometimes it would be good to see Linux as your Native OS with all your aplications on the screen withiout any additional configuration.

Dual Boot?

Dual Boot comes to rescue. You can install Ubuntu or any other distribution just next to your Windows on the same hard drive. If you have two separate hard drives its also duable 😃. If you want to use 5 different OS (many different linux distros), it's also possible.

Ubuntu is highly recommended, as it has widest support. This way, everytime you boot your PC, you can choose which OS you want to boot. Your OS stay separated, so you don't have to worry about anything left on your Windows.

This won't be a guide how to do it. Just follow the existing guides on internet, like this one or this one for 2 separate drives

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