Ubuntu within Windows

I'm considering installing Ubuntu within Windows with Wubi. Will I be able to run SL for Linux with that type of installation and still have my Windows installation of SL?

I have never actually tried Wubi myself, so I don't know exactly how it works. I *do* know that your Linux "partition" in a Wubi install is a special file created in your Windows partition that essentially acts like a separate partition. For all intents and purposes, they *are* separate, and Windows cannot access files within this virtual partition.

So, in short, your Windows SL installation will neither ever see or care about your Linux SL installation, and vice-versa.

I've never tried Wubi either, as I just installed Ubuntu the 'old fashioned way', but I'm pretty confident that you will be able to run SL for Linux and still have your Windows install will be unaffected.

No. Virtual machines, if they support OpenGL at all, are emulating the GPU in software. Expect framerates in terms of seconds per frame if you do get it to work that way at all.

It sounds like you're trying to plug things together upside down, anyway; try turning the plug around: Windows belongs in the virtual machine under Linux, Windows just isn't up to the task (and won't ever be without a rewrite from scratch at this point). Windows makes an unreliable and unstable platform for hosting virtual machines due to piss-poor memory management and a tendency to just add new code rather than revising or removing buggy code from the source tree.

Wubi is not a virtual machine, it is a dual boot arrangement. Just the installer runs under Windows, and it uses a disk image inside the Windows filesystem to avoid the repartitioning thing. Graphics will run natively.

Oooh, I see. Then, yeah, it'll work. But if that's the whole idea, why not use a distribution that has the same features, but actually has an upgrade path other than "do a windows-like reinstallation?" I mean, if you're going to install another operating system, don't you want to only have to do it one time?

http://www.goodbye-microsoft.com/ (redirects to the much less stupidly named Debian Installer for Windows).

I did the wubi Ubuntu installation. It went almost as easily as claimed. The video driver wasn't as good as the drivers available under windows, and there was no benefit in SL performance, which was the only thing I tried it for. For trying Linux it seemed like a fine approach to me. There was no problem with having SL installed in both Linux and Windows. This was a while ago, so the SL program and perhaps the video driver might have improved since then.

It's fine for testing out an OS without the extra work, and they have a utility lvpm that lets the whole thing be migrated to a real physical partition if the user decides to keep it around. What gets installed is really plain old Ubuntu that can be updated and all, it's not a read-only distribution or anything like that.

Is the disk performance slower? If so wouldn't that slow down SL some?

Yup, the image filesystem will be pokier than a native partition, but it should be OK if there aren't a bunch of other programs actively chewing on the disk, and a decent amount of RAM to keep swapping down. Windows can be piggypiggypiggy about grinding the disks, so it might still be a net win.

The idea behind Wubi is that it allows someone to try out and experience (specifically Ubuntu) Linux in an actual, real GNU/Linux environment without the risk of repartitioning or making any kind of configuration changes to the computer itself. It is, for all intents and purposes, a full-fledged Linux install; the only difference being that its filesystem is virtualized inside the existing Windows partition. This gives such an installation the obvious disadvantage of a filesystem performance hit; but for someone trying out Linux for the first time, the inherent relative safety of a Wubi install may be all the incentive one needs to get his or her foot in the GNU/Linux door. The more traditional means of installation are still available for those who are more comfortable with OS installs, dual-boot management, and using gparted.

Have you tried with the proprietary drivers from your card's chipset manufacturer? While less stable those often get you better performance than the FLOSS ones included in the distributions, as well as access to more OpenGL features ("extensions".

Thank you all for your replies. I do still want to try Linux/Ubuntu through the Wubi installation someday, but the urgency to install it to run SL is gone.

I was affected by a bug that has existed since 1.21 and was forced to use 1.20 ever since. The Jira on it was posted 9 months ago. The bug could only be reproduced in systems with XP when tests were run by Linden techs. So I was going to try to run SL in Linux, since it seemed there wasn't a fix in sight. Well, lo and behold, last night a patch was posted for the bug (excessive delay or crash when trying to open texture picker, open person chooser, new inventory window, add buttons for banning).

So....now I'm running the newest SL version with the patch (actually it's a test viewer) in Windows XP. I'm so glad it's over.

Anyway, I still have an interest in Linux and am thankful for the knowledge shared here. It will help me when I do finally install Ubuntu. Thanks very much.

FWIW, that bug exists in the Linux viewers as well. I notice it particularly when opening a new inventory window. Looking forward to seeing the patch.

Here is the URL for the Jira on that bug. You might want to post how it affects Linux too because I thought a couple of Lindens who posted said they couldn't reproduce it in Linux:

http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-8818

Done. Thanks for the link!