Comment on Is it possible to install a distro directly from online ?

schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

• andrewta@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  That’s how I interpreted the statement.

  Open web browser

  Click install

  Files down load and install. Computer reboots with Linux os installed on hard drive

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  • zorro@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I feel like you should be able to do this tbh.

    I can basically do this from Linux. I could build a disk image and extract it right onto my disk and reboot and be in that new system. It would take some work to get right, but it’s basically how the rpi images work.

    I think your biggest issue is making sure enough utilities were loaded in ram that you could finish the extraction before the system crashes cause you’ve deleted some important utilities.

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    • iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      The answer is no, because you’d need windows to allow your Linux installer to take over top runtime privilege and modify live partitions while mounted and in use. While i guess it’s technically possible, it’s so much of a hassle i wouldn’t even want to start considering it.

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      • zorro@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I think you are right. A little bit of research seems to show that windows doesnt allow such things.

        On Linux you could make a ramdisk with like BusyBox and your new image (or new image on some other drive) pivot_root then overwrite the entire boot disk to some other disk image.

        It would be a bit hairy, but could be done

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      • zorro@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I wouldn’t consider this a real option in any way, but it is a fun experiment to theorycraft.

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      • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        There’s WebUSB on Chromium browsers, a JS API for all kinds of peripherals. I think formatting mass storage is allowed, as long as it’s connected by USB

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  • s38b35M5@lemmy.world ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Sort of like GrapheneOS does, right? I don’t actually have GOS, but I thought the installer worked like that. Otherwise, there’s always the WSL that I think is how I installed Ubuntu (just as a test!!! I haven’t used Ubuntu since 2009) inside Windows 10 a few years back.

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    • Squizzy@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Its a different device though, you run the installer on a browser with usb access and the phone gets flashed.

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