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I've found distros like PortableUbuntu and PenDriveLinux, but they all seem to be either out-of-date, minimally-supported, or too large.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