how portable is linux?

paradisiac · 8 Jun 2011 at 16:52

hi, im just wondering, how portable is linux, or more importantly mint 10 debian?
i have it installed on an external hard drive, so im thinking, can i plug it into any computer and it will just work, or is it like windows and configures itself to a system and doesnt like to play when moved to something different?

inSilica · 8 Jun 2011 at 17:05

Yes & Yes & Depends.

If its a pretty similar setup, go for it

, you shouldn't have any problems. doesn't matter which Linux it is, I have basic gentoo booting off a pendrive, backtrack 4 off a pendrive, and I literally pop-it in and set boot option and voila.

I must admit, I've done it successfully before on windows XP aswell, though never tried pen drive., windows typically loads and installs new driver on first boot.

Depends:

If you have dual monitor setup etc.., something setup hardware specific, then unless where your moving it too is the same, you may need to reconfigure.
Moving from two monitor box to one monitor box, xorg likely to load only half of your screen, so will need reconfiguring..

you get the idea

Hairybudda · 8 Jun 2011 at 17:15

It's pretty damn portable, take liveCDs that work on a whole myriad of systems flawlessly as an example

paradisiac · 8 Jun 2011 at 17:17

ok thats kool. i know live cds are portable, but i have vista live dvds and they work on 99% of things, but i can guarantee if i take a hdd out of a vista pc and stick it in a completly different setup, it would BSOD on me.
i like the live cd/pendrive and it has its uses, but a fully install OS with all the software i want (i know you can streamline these into live cds) and being able to just plug it into any pc and it running would be ideal.

leezer3 · 8 Jun 2011 at 19:15

The only real issue you're likely to have is the X-Server video driver. Set it to use VESA as the video driver, and it will boot and run on anything, but the 3d performance will be non-existant. This is basically what the livecds do.
Worst that's likely to happen is that you get dumped to a console, but the console will work on anything.

If you try and dump the HDD onto something completely silly (PPC Mac, Itanium etc.) then it's not going to work either, but I doubt you're playing with different architectures. Anything that runs Windows can be plugged into without too much trouble.

You could probably write a script to change the video driver to whatevers in the machine on a per-boot basis, but as you're asking here, you clearly aren't up to that standard

-Leezer-

eXor · 9 Jun 2011 at 06:12

Very portable. As has been mentioned, the only potential issue is video drivers.

I have a portable Debian Squeeze install on a Corsair flash disk, with Gnome desktop and VESA drivers. I've booted it on many PCs and it has never failed to load the desktop.

BigglesPiP · 9 Jun 2011 at 18:27

1. Portable means something else, stop saying that.

2. Pretty much, yes, some distros will do this better than others. Some are designed to do it. Some absolutely will not (rare). I'd expect to see problems though, the most realiable way to do it is probably make the external HDD into an ubuntu live USB stick with space for persistant data.

paradisiac · 10 Jun 2011 at 08:11

BigglesPiP said:
1. Portable means something else, stop saying that.

Web definitions

A portable application (portable app) is a computer software program that is able to run independently without the need to install files to the system it is run upon. They are commonly used on a removable storage device such as a CD, USB flash drive, flash card, or floppy disk. ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_software

Portable software refers to a type of software that can be used on more than one hardware platform, and easily switched from one to another.

www.networkdictionary.com/software/p.php

does this not indicate, that by definition, i did mean portable?

Hairybudda · 10 Jun 2011 at 13:47

What biggles means is that, in this particular context, portability doesn't mean how easily you can take your operating system on the go with you, it has to do with the range or architectures the kernel works on and how easily it can be ported to new architectures.

eXor · 10 Jun 2011 at 14:02

Hairybudda said:
What biggles means is that, in this particular context, portability doesn't mean how easily you can take your operating system on the go with you, it has to do with the range or architectures the kernel works on and how easily it can be ported to new architectures.

Which context? :confused:

From the OP's post and several replies, the context is perfectly clear.

Moving an installation from the x86 machine it was installed on.. to another x86 machine.

I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't thinking of other architectures when he composed his post.

Hairybudda · 10 Jun 2011 at 14:05

eXor said:
Which context?

From the OP's post and several replies, the context is perfectly clear.

Moving an installation from the x86 machine it was installed on.. to another x86 machine.

I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't thinking of other architectures when he composed his post.

Oh yeah I get that, i was meaning bigglespips interpretation of context, I had already posted a sort-of useful response within the OPs context earlier on and was just trying to explain what bigglespip was meaning

paradisiac · 10 Jun 2011 at 14:07

eXor said:
Which context?

From the OP's post and several replies, the context is perfectly clear.

Moving an installation from the x86 machine it was installed on.. to another x86 machine.

I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't thinking of other architectures when he composed his post.

exactly, i wanted to know, if my existing install on an external drive would be able to be taken around with me and plugged into any/most pc and work.
that way i can install it with all the apps i think would be useful and always have them where ever i go.

paradisiac · 10 Jun 2011 at 14:09

Hairybudda said:
Oh yeah I get that, i was meaning bigglespips interpretation of context, I had already posted a sort-of useful response within the OPs context earlier on and was just trying to explain what bigglespip was meaning

you have been very helpful to me, and have given me some advice that has really got me going

infact, im pretty sure it was you that convinced me to just install linux and have a play rather than worrying about what it can and cant do and whether i can use it or not.

BigglesPiP · 10 Jun 2011 at 20:45

Yes, "portable application" is a common term now, but this is an operating system installation, not an application.

Yes, you are moving linux, but you are not porting linux, so this isn't about how portable linux is.

Linux can be said to be portable becauase, although it was made for X86, it has been ported to DEC Alpha, ARM, AVR32, Blackfin, ETRAX CRIS, FR-V, H8/300, Intel Itanium, M32R, m68k, Microblaze, MIPS, MN103, PA-RISC, PowerPC, s390, S+core, SuperH, SPARC, TILE64, Unicore32, Xtensa... Linux is portable because it can be ported, not because it can boot on multiple machines after being installed once.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_portability

So just be careful when you say "portable" to an expert. Or when you hear an expert say that some software is "portable".