How practical is running Linux from a thumb drive?

[CheeseQuake]

I'm in the mood to study / experiment with Linux but aren't currently in a position to install it on my system. How practical is it to run a live installation from a thumbdrive? What should I keep in mind that might be different from running a standard installation?

I've tried Googling the subject and have seen that I need to do a persistent install, rather than the sort of basic install I've used a few times to create a live installation for recovery on a Windows system, but I can't seem to find any articles detailing the pros & cons of running Linux from a thumb drive. (Well, I suppose the pros are obvious, it's the cons I'm concerned about.)

I would appreciate any suggestions anyone might have in this regard. For the record, my intention is to start with Ubuntu, since I know a few people that use it and would be available in the event I need help with something, but I'm willing to consider other alternatives. (I've never used Linux as a desktop but I did use FreeBSD for a couple of years at a past job, so I'm not entirely clueless.)

[rokytnji]

Not sure what cons concern you. I run flash just fine.

Screenr - roktnji: AntiX 11 i686 base iso persistent pendrive

It's not Ubuntu. But I am comfortable running what I chose to run.

My install how to

antiX-forum - View topic - Antix 11 antix2usb persistent usb

[Roxoff]

There is a tool called 'Fedora LiveUSB Creator' which you can use to build a live USB stick. There's even a version for one of the lesser, but big sellng operting systems. I've used it a couple of times, and it'll even build the overlay filesystem so your settings get saved.

It's aimed at Fedora, so it'll download the version .iso if you choose, but it can make a live USB stick out of any live disk image. I used it with Meego, whose disk images came in .img format - I just renamed the file to .iso and it all worked.

I recommend you do this with at least a 4GB USB stick, but obviously more is better.

[madhatter632]

Distro's like fedore and pclinuxos have the live usb feature and there are a few distro's that are meant to run off of usb and or cd and not be installed, check out Distrowatch for your options ......................

[oz]

Hello and welcome aboard!

If you haven't already found it, there is a great deal of info about running Linux on pendrives that can be found here:

Boot and run Linux from a USB flash memory stick | USB Pen Drive Linux

Hope something there is helpful to you.

[godwater]

Mostly I did it while internal hdd is disconnected. I installed ubuntu 8.04 and now 10.10 without any issue.

[Djhg2000]

I've done this a few times, it'll work just like a regular install except for the slow read/write speeds of older/cheaper flash drives.

Just remember to disconnect your internal HDD so that you can't accidentally install a new bootloader to it.

Also, don't forget to use a filesystem without a journal such as ext2 or ext4 with the journal flag removed, this applies especially to older/cheaper drives or for long term usage (i.e. more than a few hours in total runtime).

Not doing so may shorten the lifetime of the drive but on newer drives most people would argue that by then the drive would be obsolete anyway.

[reginaldperrin]

I have installed Ubuntu on a thumb drive, so I have some experience with your concerns. A few responses to your request for info:
Aside from the usual pros about Linux (and there are many), some other pros:
Portability - can take your Ubuntu to any (newish) computer that allows for USB boot in the bios (and it is enabled).
Security - any computer you move to will be as secure as your regular computer.

Some cons:
Security - USB thumb drives are easily lost. Unless your OS is encrypted, your files are easily discoverable.
Lifetime - Like any solid state drive, USB thumb drives have limited rewritable cells. Granted, these are quite long, but if you are using the drive as RAM, this can run out relatively quickly.
Line Speed - USB 2 standard allows for up to 480 Mbps transfer to and from the drive. USB communication is moderated/controlled by the CPU. Multiple concurrent operations can slow down individual USB connections. In practice, you will get only about 300 Mbps max. Compare this even to SATA 1, which has maximum speeds of 1,500 Mbps. USB 3 should 'fix' this issue, but it is not yet common.
USB drive speed - USB thumb drives vary considerably both in read and write speed, and in variations between manufacturers. Cheap drives may make a system as you are proposing unworkable. Expensive drives may be workable, but the difference between read and write may not be acceptable.
Cost - the cost per gigabyte for spinning disc drives is mere pennies now; the cost per gigabyte for solid state drives is a lot more, but dropping rapidly; the cost per gigabyte for USB drives is enormous in comparison.

There are more, but these are what come to mind right now.
Hope this helps.

[velikij]

You could also try using a USB hard drive - either one which is purchased with the hard drive already in the enclosure with the USB interface, or you can buy USB enclosures for 2.5" or 3.5" hard drives. But I'd try a thumb drive first, to get the experience.

[canineloop]

Easy to set up. There are a lot of easy-to-follow how-to's on that subject.

Pick the right sized drive. Too small is impractical. Say 4-16GB?

Pick a PC that has a BIOS that allows booting from a removable drive.

There's a little danger in possibly getting your thumbdrive hacked if you keep secure stuff on it. Maybe a Live Linux disc like a CD or a DVD? They can't be written to or hacked.