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I'm new to Linux and trying multiple variants of Ubuntu (standard, Mint, Pop, etc.). Unfortunately, every OS is isolated on different partitions, with separate settings, user groups, etc. and programs have to be installed each time I install a new OS. I would like to have a primary OS (Ubuntu LTS) and then all subsequent OS's refer to the primary OS for user profiles, program installations, etc. - Is this possible?

My purpose is twofold: 1) ease of trying new distros without hassling with setup/maintenance of multiple profiles and programs, and 2) save on disk space by reducing duplicate files.

I know how to access files and mount folders between each distro's partition, but is there a way to trick the OS into thinking the primary partition is where it should be looking for everything?

I don't mind trying things that are experimental, as this is a new system and I have no critical data on it yet.

ThatNewGuy
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    I would personaly be asking that here https://unix.stackexchange.com/ – David Mar 19 '21 at 12:24
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    If you set things up with a common home partition then settings will be shared. Expect some odd things to happen though. You would still have to install applications in each OS. You can install multiple desktops on a single OS. That means you would have all of the features of the underlying OS and different desktop experiences similar to Ubuntu (Gnome), Kubuntu, Mate, Xubuntu, or Lubuntu – PonJar Mar 19 '21 at 12:37
  • Thanks David. I'm just learning about the various help sites. Is this one specifically for the Ubuntu OS and not Ubuntu based OS's? – ThatNewGuy Mar 19 '21 at 13:29
  • Thanks PonJar, I'll have to check that out! – ThatNewGuy Mar 19 '21 at 13:29

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Theoretically it can be possible, but only on a case by case basis, ie. it might work for some applications, while it won't work for others.

It has a chance to work only if exactly the same application package version is used in both distributions. Then you can try the following:

  1. install the application in your "primary" distribution
  2. check which files are contained in the package (you can do it with dpkg-query -L packagename)
  3. on the other distribution, create symbolic links in place of all these files, that point to respective files on the mounted partition of the "primary" ditribution
  4. optionally, you can similarly create symbolic links for configuration files/folders of that application in your /home/user directory, but this can be tricky, as it is not always easy to know which particular files/folders the application uses to store config.

In my opinion, even if this may work, it's not worth the effort, as you have to do it for every application manually.

raj
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Can multiple operating systems share program installations and user profiles?

Yes, but in my experience it is better to not do that. You will run into trouble in the future: versions between the different operating systems can cause problems. You are bound to the same desktop otherwise you already will have different configurations for software.

I used to have a setup where I use Ubuntu, Debian, and CentOS where I use 1 MySQL, and 1 apache. Those 2 have the exact same configuration but I ran into trouble where I wanted to update Ubuntu to 20.04 and it wanted to start using MySQL 8 where the others would still be on 5.6.

Nowadays I ONLY share only the DATA. That takes up by far the most space anyways :)

Rinzwind
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