Re: [PLUG] Story and warning about wubi and ubuntu

[jim fisher <jedijf@myfisher.org>]

On 1/10/10, Art Alexion <art.alexion@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sunday 10 January 2010 12:05:19 James Barrett wrote:
>> Yes, but compared to the potential of seriously damaging or destroying
>> an existing partition by shrinking it, this is an extremely safe
>> solution.  Also, having a disk image file adds the benefit of being
>> able to say, "If you find that Ubuntu does not meet your needs, then
>> just go to "add/remove programs" and remove it to regain your disk
>> space!" ... you wouldn't be able to do that very easily if there was a
>> new partition, and again adds the potential of data loss.
>>
>> Using a disk image is simply a better solution for Wubi's purpose, as
>> well as for its targeted audience.
>>
>
> I see your point, but from my perspective, I have shrunken and expanded a
> lot
> of NTFS partitions, and haven't lost any data so far.
>
> This is our standard desktop build.  We install or configure XP.  Customize
> for that user/department.  Shrink the partition with Gparted Live.  Add and
> ext2 image that windows can't see.  Use a Clonezilla boot disk to clone the
> windows partition to the ext2 partition.  That way, when the user screws up
> the system, we just restore from the clone.  I have done this many times
> without data loss problems.  Usually, the only problems are file
> fragmentation
> on a system in use for some time, preventing gparted from shrinking the
> partition.  Never any data loss, though.  I hope saying this doesn't jinx
> me.

I find that Wubi is great for people wanting to try Linux/Ubuntu.  It
runs on their native hardware as it should, as opposed to LiveCd.
Even when I explain that the Livecd won't run as fast as if it were
installed, I don't think people take that into consideration when they
are trying it.

Wubi on the other hand, allows Linux to be shown, in a non-destructive
manner, on their machine's hardware in its full glory.

And, as opposed to a vm, which shares memory and may hinder the
experience,  being a faux dual boot, it forces the new user to really
use Linux, as opposed to
 jumping back to what they are familiar with. I believe it to really
be a great adoption tool.

-- 
jim fisher
Jedijf

irc freenode  #ubuntu-us-pa
www.myfisher.org

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'"
  --  Jedi Master Yoda
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