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I downloaded Lubuntu 18.04 iso file into my flash drive and make the flash drive into a bootable device.

I inserted the flash drive into a laptop and booted into Lubuntu without actually installing it.

If I need some program not already in the Lubuntu 18.04 iso file, do I need to actually install Lubuntu on the laptop? Is it possible to install some programs like google chrome browser without actually installing Lubuntu on the laptop?

Thanks.

Which one below is the limit on the total sizes of the programs that I can install?

$ df -h
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev            1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /dev
tmpfs           340M  1.4M  338M   1% /run
/dev/sdb        1.1G  1.1G     0 100% /cdrom
/dev/loop0      968M  968M     0 100% /rofs
/cow            1.7G  367M  1.3G  22% /
tmpfs           1.7G   32M  1.7G   2% /dev/shm
tmpfs           5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs           1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs           1.7G  4.0K  1.7G   1% /tmp
tmpfs           340M   20K  340M   1% /run/user/999
Tim
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  • Yep. However note that the / fs (file-system) used by 'live-mode' is created in memory & is a set size (the amount of memory allocated is fixed @ boot & can't be adjusted), it will fill up if you add too many programs, or updates & your system can become unstable. You'll unlikely reach this in testing the system (as expected), but can be reached if you try & use it as if it's an installed system. – guiverc Feb 16 '19 at 03:59
  • I could have worded my last comment better sorry. It can become unstable if you 'fill' the / fs created in memory (write errors on / due to lack of space). I've been doing QA-tests on Lubuntu 19.04 system last 90+ minutes with no issues, even added apps for one part of test & didn't expect issues. But I was using a daily live. I'd expect a 18.04 (~9 months old) to be slightly different, as adding apps to that may require/cause updates to libs/packages that chew far more space than the single app installed. These deps need to be considered, but it's still predictable. – guiverc Feb 16 '19 at 04:19
  • Most Live installs can be modified into Persistent installs that will save settings, data and installed programs.It is a usualy a simple matter of creating a casper-rw file and adding the word persistence to boot. A casper-rw file can add up to 4GB persistence, a home-rw file can add an extra 4GB persistence. What method did you use to create the Live pendrive? – C.S.Cameron Feb 16 '19 at 05:24
  • @C.S.Cameron I remember using dd to copy Lubuntu 18.04 iso file to the entire flash drive – Tim Feb 16 '19 at 05:33
  • @Tim If you are using Linux, mkusb is the tool to use for making a persistent drive. Persistence is put on a casper-rw partition without the 4GB limit. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb – C.S.Cameron Feb 16 '19 at 05:38
  • @C.S.Cameron I am not sure what you mean by persistent. How does mkusb differ from dd way? Does dd not make a persistent drive? I used dd, because that is the only way I know under Ubuntu to create a bootable flash drive from an iso file. For the flash drive see the second 4GB "disk" listed by lshw in https://askubuntu.com/q/1118684/1471 – Tim Feb 16 '19 at 05:41
  • @Tim: dd creates an ISO9660 image that is not editable, There is no way to store Persistence on a read only drive. Mkusb creates BIOS and UEFI boot partitions, an ISO9660 read only OS partition, a casper-rw persistence partition and if you like, a NTFS data partition. If you have access to Linux it is the way to go and is of coarse free. – C.S.Cameron Feb 16 '19 at 06:41

1 Answers1

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Yes.

However note that the / fs (file-system) used by 'live-mode' is created in memory & is a set size (the amount of memory allocated is fixed at boot-time and cannot be adjusted during operation). It can fill up if you add too many programs, or updates & your system can become unstable (primarily slow, but also unable to write to / as out-of-space). You'll unlikely reach this in testing the system, but it can be reached if you try & use it as if it's an installed system.

I've been doing QA-tests on Lubuntu 19.04 system(s) last 90+ minutes with no issues, even added apps for one part of test & didn't expect issues. But I was using a daily live. I'd expect a 18.04 (~9 months old) to be slightly different, as adding apps to that may require/cause updates to libs/packages that chew far more space than the single app installed (the 19.04 daily being different as it was created <24 hours ago & I'd expect less library changes even though [active] development release). These deps. need to be considered, but it's still predictable. If I add apps on a live system, I always use terminal so I can assess the dependencies being pulled in, whether new, or upgrades required & thus how it will effect my running system.

guiverc
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  • Thanks. Updated with output of df. Which one is the limit on the total sizes of the programs that I can install? – Tim Feb 16 '19 at 05:17
  • The cow file-system, it's not a real 'fs'; doesn't exist on disk or media anywhere but a temporary fs created (at boot-time) in memory. It's a set size and thus cannot grow, everything written to '/' uses space, and once it's gone - the system slows eventually becoming a problem... This won't apply if you have use a persistent thumb-drive (it has different limits & is more easily viewed) – guiverc Feb 16 '19 at 06:29