[vox] Installing Linux in a file inside a Windows parition (Was Re: Need to use a computer running Linux for 1-2 hours)

[Gabriel G. Rosa]

On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 11:28:26AM -0700, Bill Kendrick wrote:
> On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 09:35:09PM -0700, Gabriel G. Rosa wrote:
> > I'd recommend saving media, and going with QEMU[1] or Virtualbox[2]
> > (both of which run on windows) and installing a throw-away distribution[3]
> 
> I hear that Ubuntu's installer now comes with a feature that lets you use
> some space in your Windows partition as a 'host' for your Linux installation,
> therefore removing the need to repartition the drive, or install a second
> drive.  That's pretty hot.
> 
> Anyone got a link to the technology behind that? (I'm guessing it's not
> Ubuntu-specific, but just something they happen to be using and touting.)
> 

Heh. I remember being able to do something similar in 1996 on some
floppy-based distro I don't even remember the name of. You could put the
entire install in a DOS directory, and it would do some translation magic
to map it to look like a unix fs. You could boot directly from DOS too
(or use a boot floppy).

That's about all I remember.

-Gabe