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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Looking for a minimal distro for a virtual machine (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 7 months ago by Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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Hi all :)

I manage a handful of websites and their emails using the PortableApps suite on Windows, so have a separate browser and mail client for each one. This has worked well for years, but now I'm switching to Linux, Mint specifically. I've read that I can set up profiles on Firefox and probably Thunderbird, or maybe run separate instances with things like AppImages, but it sounds like it's a messy solution, and could end up with me using the wrong profile by mistake

What I want to do is set up a virtual machine for each site, and have a completely separate instance of the programs, and hopefully a way to easily transfer the machines to other systems if needs be.

I'd prefer to use a Debian / Ubuntu based distro with Apt and the 'Windows' style desktop, as that's what I'm already used to, but am I better off installing Mint and stripping it down, or is there something more suited to this?

Thanks in advance :)

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[–] prunerye 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

How important is the Windows-style desktop? If the VM is designed for one thing and one thing only, I'd pick any minimal WM that can alt-tab, say JWM, and then just add Firefox and Thunderbird to the autostart file.

[–] Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 7 months ago

Ironically, JWM is the reason I don't use distros like Puupy os DSL. For some reason, I just can't get on with it. I don't know if it's muscle memory or something, but I just can't get to grips with it.

Saying that though, it's always worth another shot. As you suggest, I should only need the two programs, and maybe something lime FileZilla, so starting them at boot should help too :)