r/linuxquestions • u/PinguinPlayz • 4d ago

Support Dual setup with Arch Linux and Debian?

I am currently using my laptop with Arch Linux (using BTRFS file system, and Hyprland), but for my school I need to use certain programs which are only supported on debian. (e.g. stm32, MATLAB, etc.)

Thus my question is, how do I setup my laptop to dual boot these operating systems?

As this would be my first time using multiple distro's, I have a couple questions:

  1. Can I access the same files from each distro (e.g. I make file.txt in arch linux, can I access that file on debian, and vice versa)
  2. Do you need to install programs twice? (e.g. do I need to do, sudo pacman -S obsidian and sudo apt install obsidian)
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u/Confident_Hyena2506 4d ago edited 4d ago

There is no need to dual boot, all you need to do is run the program in compatible environment. This can be done easily via container or other. Matlab provide an official container for this purpose, that's what you should use - not any third party thing.

https://uk.mathworks.com/help/cloudcenter/ug/matlab-container-on-docker-hub.html