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ISOs Explained + four programs to make Linux boot media


Linux boot media need not be tricky! In today's episode, I'll talk about four ways to flash an ISO from Windows (and other systems too).

I know a lot of you are switching to Linux because of Microsoft's recent... ideas? I'll call them "ideas".

So, here we'll talk about the following ways to flash ISOs:
- BalenaEtcher: https://etcher.balena.io/
- Raspberry Pi Imager: https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/
- Fedora Media Writer (you can just download this when you go to download Fedora, but here's the GitHub): https://github.com/FedoraQt/MediaWriter
- Rufus: https://rufus.ie/

And I referenced the following four reasonably-beginner-friendly distros (in no particular order):
- Linux Mint: https://linuxmint.com/
- Ubuntu: https://ubuntu.com
- Fedora: https://fedoraproject.org/
- Pop!_OS: https://pop.system76.com/

And here's the ISO standard in case you're curious: https://ecma-international.org/publications-and-standards/standards/ecma-119/

Lastly, want to support my channel and help me get these videos out faster? Here's three ways!
👕 Buy my shirt: https://vkc.sh/product-tag/t568b-cheat-sheet/
🎁 Patreon: https://patreon.com/VeronicaExplains
💵 Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/VeronicaExplains

Chapters:
0:00 What even is an ISO?
3:35 What you need to get started flashing Linux
4:58 BalenaEtcher
7:55 Raspberry Pi Imager
11:39 Fedora Media Writer
13:59 Rufus
17:01 Conclusion- at least we have options?

#Linux #homelab #computer

This entry was edited (1 day ago)

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in reply to vkc via PeerTube

What about Ventoy? It's great that you can put all your images on one stick.
in reply to Spoodle

Oh. Just reached the 17th minute. Nevermind 😁
in reply to Spoodle

Haha, I had the same reaction when looking at the chapter markers ^__^
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

I still miss CD drives inside computers sometimes, though. Now have a removable blu ray drive.
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

I like Rufus because it is available on the PortableApps platform. PortableApps is a good gateway for potential Linux users. If you can work using only the software on PortableApps for a week, you are ready to move to Linux.
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

I just love that you happened to have a pneumatic nailer for demonstrative purposes! 😆
in reply to Matt Cengia (seeking work)

ha! It was right by where I was sitting because we're framing a closet. 😀
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

Content warning: Video spoiler

in reply to vkc via PeerTube

Honestly, trying to explain the awesome benefits of having a bootable USB of your system to normies is interesting to say the least.
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

Nice to see btop (or a variant) running on your monitor there for a hot second. Awesome tool! Keep up the good work!
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

Thanks for this video, it's a great reference when people ask how to!
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

Currently I'm using Fedora on my more powerful systems and the Fedora Media Writer is definitely a fantastic tool. I wish it was as stable as it is now when I first became Fedora-curious. 😂

All the others shown are also amazing. It's wonderful that there are more options over the last 10 years since I started dabbling in UNIX. 😁

in reply to vkc via PeerTube

Hi.

Would you have a simple but good explanation somewhere (your own, or someone else's) of bootable ISO principle ?

On install-parties I sometimes encounter problems with ISOs that apparently cannot work with legacy and I don't understand why.

Yes I know (basically) the difference between GPT and MBR but I don't understand why the ISO can or cannot work on one of them ?

in reply to Lien Rag

Also, by curiosity : why can't you just dd a music cd ?
Even if the music is on different tracks, they're still 0 & 1 aren't they ?
So in my basic comprehension of how dd works, it should still be possible to do it.
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

Haha, I love the bits about trying to open one of these darn USB-stick packaging-things, been there so often! ^__^
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

I had used Rufus a lot back when I was only experimenting with Linux and many other OSs and predominantly still used Windows (specifically Windows 7). I liked to use it because it has a portable version and doesn't needed to be installed. Plus it was the perfect tool to have always on one of my USB drives that was always in my bag, just in case if I needed to flesh any installation media.
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

It's impressive to discover a content creator i usually follow on Youtube publish in the fediverse as well!

My sincere admiration for you!

in reply to vkc via PeerTube

IIRC balena/etcher has a bad reputation around privacy. I may be not up to date but one can dig in the issue tracker https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/2766
in reply to vkc via PeerTube

Linux, Linux, Linux, so much so that you talk about it and it's not even an operating system.