Ubuntu+1 inside a sandboxed partition

[Dražen]

OK, thanks everybody for your quick suggestions!

I think what Bryce and Andrea are suggesting would be what I had in mind
(using lxc containers would still prevent me from testing the latest
drivers).

I'll try it out and add it to the mentioned wiki page as another method if
it works.

Dražen

On Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 7:51 PM, Andrea Corbellini <
corbellini.andrea at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 19/08/12 20:36, Dražen wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> is there a way to run the development Ubuntu version dual boot, but by
>> using the OS installer (and other related stuff) from the stable version
>> so that there is little or no chance of it damaging other partitions
>> with the stable production installation?
>>
>> I'd like to run an Ubuntu+1 version for development and testing
>> purposes. Now, I prefer having a dual boot installation to VMs, because
>> of the ability to test on actual drivers (which are often the cause of
>> why I want to hack something in the first place). After reading the
>> description of this method on the wiki page
>> (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/**UsingDevelopmentReleases/**OtherWays<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UsingDevelopmentReleases/OtherWays>)
>> it seems it
>> has a major drawback because a bug inside the installer (or, I guess,
>> parts of the OS related to mounting other partitions etc.) could cause
>> the loss of data on the production installation, which is quite
>> unacceptable even with backups, as it takes a lot of time to recover and
>> get the system back to a usable state (especially if you have other OSs
>> alongside Ubuntu).
>>
>> What I'm wondering is if there is a way to run a development version,
>> but with certain crucial parts that could tamper with other partitions
>> taken from a stable release, where there is a higher level of confidence
>> that it won't cause data loss on other partitions. This would in an
>> essence be a sort of Ubuntu+1 installation sandboxed inside a single
>> partition.
>>
>
> You can do this:
>
> 1. create the target partition and mount it somewhere;
>
> 2. use debootstrap(8) like this: `debootstrap quantal /somewhere';
>
> 3. chroot into the /somewhere and install the tasksel package;
>
> 4. run `tasksel install ubuntu-desktop';
>
> 5. update grub's configuration as you like.
>
> This is basically what the Ubuntu installer does. You'll get a perfectly
> functioning Ubuntu Desktop without running the live cd.
>
>
>  If something like this doesn't exist, would it be very complicated to
>> create as, for example, an automatically generated remix? I think it
>> would encourage many people to try out the development version on their
>> own machines, detecting driver-related errors (which get masked by using
>> VMs) much sooner. Also, it would allow developers to run a development
>> version straight on their bare metal production machine, which would be
>> a performance boost during their work.
>>
>> Dražen Lučanin
>>
>
>
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