Wubi (Ubuntu installer)

Wubi (Windows -based Ubuntu Installer ) is an official Windows-based free installer that installs the Linux distribution Ubuntu and its derivatives within a Windows partition.

Both the Ubuntu releases for the i386 (32 -bit x86) as well as the x86 - 64 platform are supported by Wubi, the latter was introduced with version 8:04 ( in April 2008).

Among other things, Wubi is also offered on the website SourceForge.net for download, which lists more than 1.3 million downloads. (As of June 2010)

Target

The goal of the project is to let you try Windows users without Linux experience Ubuntu without risking data loss through the formatting or partitioning. In general, this method is considered to be non-hazardous way to try out Ubuntu, and often people with no experience with partitioning advised for the installation method. Ubuntu can be installed with Wubi about the software management of Windows and also removed.

Technology

Wubi is not a separate Linux distribution, but an installer for Ubuntu and its derivatives. It installs the operating system is not as usual in a partition of the hard drive, but in a single file in the Windows file system (C: \ ubuntu \ disks \ root.disk ). It is not a virtual machine, but creates a standalone installation in a loop device.

The file system contained in the file is considered by Linux as a full disk. Wubi also creates a swap file in the Windows file system (C: \ ubuntu \ disks \ swap.disk ), as an addition to the RAM of the computer. The system is started by an additional entry in the boot loader of Windows. The system can be subsequently transferred to a partition or a bootable USB stick.

Compared to an ordinary installation there are a number of constraints such as the lack of sleep or lack of compensation of hardware reset.

Development

The main developers are Agostino Russo, Geza Kovacs, Oliver Mattos and Ecology2007. The development takes place mainly on Launchpad and is under the direction of Lupin teams ( Lupin is the loop- installer, which takes care of all the operations after a reboot ), on the original Ubuntu blueprint page and the new project pages Wubi, Lubi Lupin and LVPM promoted.

History

SuSE offered mid-1990 before a very similar boot and installation method that used syslinux and loop- the mounted disk image files on FAT file systems. Currently the ZipSlack method existed. During the late 1990s BeOS used a similar system to install the system in a file directory in Windows.

Wubi itself draws on other free software such as the Debian installer, Migration Assistant, grub4dos, NTFS - 3G, NSIS and Metalink.

The idea for Wubi was formulated by Agostino Russo and was inspired by Topologilinux, which offered an installation in a loop device, as well as InstLux, a simple Windows front-end. The idea was to combine the two concepts. Later Geza Kovacs further developed the specification and created the first prototype to demonstrate the usefulness of the concept. Oliver Mattos wrote the original user interface in NSIS.

The first public version was released in April 2007. Wubi was founded independent of Ubuntu, so the versions were 7:04 and 7:10 not official. Since April 2008, the Code was adopted in Ubuntu and Ubuntu since version 8:04 Alpha 5 Wubi is also included in the Ubuntu Live CD.

Wubi, the creation of other Windows-based Linux installation programs such as win32 -loader inspired. The distribution Linux Mint uses a spin-off called Mint4Win. Mubi, a version for Mac OS as the host system is not yet officially adopted by Ubuntu.

Similar programs

  • Lubi is a related project that uses Windows instead of Linux as the host system.
  • Cooperative Linux can run Linux inside Windows and is of Topologilinux ( Slackware - based) and andLinux used.
  • Mint4win, a similar program to install Linux Mint.
  • InstLux included in openSUSE since version 10.3.
  • Win32 -loader uses a similar chain -booting technology to install Debian without CD.
  • UNetbootin uses a similar approach to initiate a normal Linux installation without a CD ( or to create a live system on USB removable media ).
  • Xandros Presto is a commercial "instant -on" Linux distribution, such as the Wubi installs within Windows.
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