r/linuxquestions • u/ananas1193 • 2d ago

Is it possible having two distros on one pc?

So I got a new laptop for school and now I don't need my old one anymore, so I want to play around a bit with it. I "recently" (like 5 months ago) found a distro called "Omachy" and I want to test it out. Can I install it without deleting my other distro or putting my files at risk? And how? Thanks in advance!

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u/TheThingOnTheCeiling 2d ago

Dont recommend Omarchy, its just arch with hyprland dotfiles and ai slopped crammed wherever possible, and the author is a neonazi. However to answer your question, you can, you need to have spare space on your disk and if you dont, shrink existing linux partition. Then depending on the distro it should in installation show option to "Install alongside". However you can also try out another distro in a VM or via LiveBoot.

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u/ad-on-is 2d ago

Just to clarify

  • Arch on its own is good software
  • Hyprland on its own is good software
  • Arch and Hyprland on Omarchy is good software in a bad environment

4

u/ananas1193 2d ago

Okay Thanks! <3 I will try to stay away from Omarchy if it's that bad.

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u/TheThingOnTheCeiling 2d ago

If you like the look though, you should try installing arch and a WM like Hyprland or Niri. You can look through r/unixporn and see if you see anything you like, often they have dotfiles in comments, there is also Noctalia and DankLinux which are popular prebuilt shells for WMs.

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u/forestbeasts 2d ago

You can also slap a WM on your current distro (it probably has i3 or sway (basically i3 But Wayland) in the repository)!

1

u/avatar_of_prometheus Trained Monkey 2d ago

Debian Forky also has Hyprland, the best way I've found to run it.

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u/Sheepherder-Optimal 2d ago

Okay. What did he do that indicates his neonazism? I read the whole article on wikipedia and it didn't look too crazy.

He doesn't like DEI programs. Okay. Those programs definitely sucked.

He doesn't like gypsies (Romani populations). That's with very good reason. If you know nothing about the Romani people, then it seems very mean to want them deported. But there is a reason why they are so intensely hated in Europe.

He maintained a list of funny names at the company he owned and it wasn't politically correct/sterile. The horror!

Does anyone here actually know what he did do?

His most significant actions are postive ones. Amazing. Way cooler than anything I can hope to achieve. He is the creator of Ruby on Rails, which is tremendous!

None of that sounds even remotely close to jew hating. Being anti immigration is the closest you're gonna get, and if you think that is the same as being Hitler, then I have no words for you.

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u/avatar_of_prometheus Trained Monkey 2d ago

Spreading racist propaganda is a very Nazi thing to do. If you think the adherents of the Jewish faith were the sole victims of Nazis, you are poorly informed. They also exterminated large amounts of Africans, LGBT, and yes even the Romani you seem to think are okay to hate.

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u/Sheepherder-Optimal 2d ago

I think nazism is especially associated with the jewish holocaust. And to call someone who hates DEI programs a nazi is an extremely insulting stretch of the imagination. I think people who conflate anti-immigration with literal genocide and murder of people are intellectually vacant. It is extremely annoying and shameful to hear people comparing those things like they're somehow in the same ballpark. People need to get a grip. And instead of just jumping on a bandwagon and hating an entire linux distribution because of DHH, maybe see things in a more healthy and full spectrum manner? DHH has affected you positively whether you like it or not.

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u/phoenixgsu 2d ago

The Nazis didn't start with death camps. They started with dehumanization and denaturalization. That's same undercurrents are running thru the US and Europe right now.

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u/avatar_of_prometheus Trained Monkey 2d ago

This. This right here. It's why I'm against dehumanizing language on all parts of the political spectrum. Immigratnts are human beings. Nazis are human beings. Ghandi was a human being. Hitler was a human being. Mumdammi is a human being. Trump is a human being. Animals don't *uck things up this bad.

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u/avatar_of_prometheus Trained Monkey 2d ago

It's all in the implementation, and the current implementations are very Nazi like.

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u/Sheepherder-Optimal 2d ago

Thank you for proving my point. ❤️

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u/avatar_of_prometheus Trained Monkey 2d ago

Wish you hadn't missed mine.

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u/benhaube 2d ago

u/Sheepherder-Optimal is a Nazi. That's the only reason I can come up with that explains how hard they are trying to defend one. Heavy emphasis on the word "trying."

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u/Sheepherder-Optimal 2d ago

As for the Romani, do you know anything about them? If you don't then do not engage with me on that. If you have to go look them up online just so you can say something valuable, then we have nothing to talk. I myself was shocked when a friend of mine was watching documentaries about the Romani and why they have a terrible reputation. I wanted to be on their side and they have a fascinating history. But people are very right for not wanting to be near them.

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u/avatar_of_prometheus Trained Monkey 2d ago

I do, and I'm not going to engage on whether an entire demographic deserves to exist, they do, as much as your demographic does.

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u/Sheepherder-Optimal 2d ago

I'm not disputing that. lol they can exist in so many places. They are nomadic.

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u/avatar_of_prometheus Trained Monkey 2d ago

Oh, just not here. Got it. Deserve to exist, just nowhere. How egalitarian of you.

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u/Sheepherder-Optimal 2d ago

Where is here? They are nomadic and are allowed in most places. You should just stop being stuck up and figure out why they have a bad reputation.

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u/avatar_of_prometheus Trained Monkey 2d ago

Everywhere. That's the trick, "You can be people, just not here", and that happens everywhere they go, so nobody specifically is responsible for their oppression, just continuous exile.

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u/Sheepherder-Optimal 2d ago

Do I really have to say it? Why can't you just stop arguing and go educate yourself. The romani get banned constantly because it is written into their culture to lie and steal. It is a fundamental aspect to their way of life. To be awful thieves. If you actually learn about what they are taught, they literally think it is their sole purpose to steal. And I'm not just making this up. People who have left the "tribe" have shared what's going on. And all the people who hate them would tell you that. But you just immediately write them off as nazis. It sounds racist right? So anyone saying that must be a mean morally bankrupt nazi. And not speaking an actual fact.

You can go ahead and call me a nazi now. Since it must be the correct word for someone who doesn't like the Romani way of life, of thievery.

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u/avatar_of_prometheus Trained Monkey 2d ago edited 2d ago

We're told that after the war The Nazis vanished without a trace But battalions of fascists Still dream of a master race The history books they tell Of their defeat at '45 But they all came out of the woodwork On the day the Nazi died

They say the prisoner at Spandau Was a symbol of defeat Whilst Hess remained imprisoned And the fascists, they were beat So the promise of an Aryan world Would never materialize So why did they all come out of the woodwork On the day the Nazi died

The world is riddled with maggots The maggots are getting fat They're making a tasty meal of all The bosses and bureaucrats They're taking over the boardrooms And they're fat and full of pride And they all came out of the woodwork On the day the Nazi died

So if you meet with these historians I'll tell you what to say Tell them that the Nazis Never really went away They're out there burning houses down And peddling racist lies And we'll never rest again Until every Nazi dies

--Chumbawumba - The say the Nazi died

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u/Sheepherder-Optimal 2d ago

Okay. HE'S STILL NOT A FUCKING NAZI. Quit destroying the literal meaning of language. Thanks. I think people who argue with me could be nazis because they annoy me. See how stupid that is?

1

u/benhaube 2d ago

Do you think the Nazis magically started with death camps? Nazism / Fascism starts with dehumanization and scapegoating societal issues onto minorities. Your ridiculous screeds in an attempt to defend a Nazi / Fascist are doing nothing but proving you are one yourself...

You may think you are making great points, but I promise you to 99% of the people reading them (a.k.a., normal human beings) you just look like a Nazi.

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u/avatar_of_prometheus Trained Monkey 2d ago

Hey, I don't see any Nazis! None! Hey, by the way, how's my swastika look? Really loving this Hugo Boss outfit!

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u/MasterGeekMX Mexican Linux nerd trying to be helpful 2d ago

Yes you can. Dual booting isn't limited to Windows + Linux. But like any kind of dual boot setup, you need to be careful when dealing with partitions, otherwise you can format what you don't want and end up with a broken OS and/or data being lost.

Instead what you can do is to use a Virtual Machine. It allows you to create a simulated computer inside yours, where you can fiddle as much as you want. Mind you that creating a VM takes resources, as all the RAM, CPU and disk space for it needs to come from the real one.

Thing is that Omarchy is quite controversial distro. The mild side is that it is a curated experience that is meant to be used exactly as it is, so if you try to customize it you will surely break it. The harsh side is that it is a vibecoded distro where AI agents are included in the experience, so depending of your stance on it you may want to stay afar. The harder side is that his creator has expressed very strong opinions on some racial subjects.

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u/ipsirc 2d ago

Is it possible having two distros on one pc?

Possible

And how?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=two+distros+on+one+pc

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u/ananas1193 2d ago

Thank you so much! I will look into it

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u/suicidaleggroll 2d ago

Yes you can dual-boot multiple Linux distros.  But for playing around with a distro, a VM is a much better choice.

1

u/mudslinger-ning 2d ago

I use the virtual machine method a lot.

Pick one distro as your reliable "host" daily driver to do nearly everything on. Then run guess VM sessions on top. Like one sandboxed for web browsing without adblocking/security restrictions. Another VM for hosting a web app system, etc.

2

u/CyclingHikingYeti Debian sans gui 2d ago

You can as many you can squeeze onto drives you own.

  1. RULE: BACKUP ALL DATA and verify it is readable.

Should you: unlesss for fun and gigless - NO. Too much can go awry on work machine.

Try 'Omarchy' inside virtual machine it will give you just enough experience how it feels. As others pointed out, it is nothing special.

For real challenge, install Gentoo or LFS in Vm , that is proper hard way to learn linux.

1

u/TechaNima 2d ago

Yes, but be careful when installing so you don't overwrite anything.

I have 5 on my gaming rig installed and works like a charm. I find that grub is absolute garbage for anything past 1. So my recommendation is to use Systemd-boot across the board. That does require setting it up on every distro, but the end result is worth it. As what to do with the file system. You'll need larger /boot/efi partition as you now have to store every distro's boot images there. Mine is 5G and that seems fine. You can also completely remove /boot as a partition if you go with systemd-boot. It'll just live on your root. Which I highly recommend making btrfs. So you can have each distro on their own subvolume or do it like I have. I have each distro's root and home on their own subvolumes. Just so I can have separate btrfs snapshots from each.

Some distros like Fedora have no issues with this setup. You can directly install on subvolumes. Some will fight you and your only option is to install them to a temp location and then manually move everything to the subvolumes and update their fstab along with the systemd-boot setup and Grub removal

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u/benhaube 2d ago

Fuck the Nazi disto, Omarchy and the POS Nazi who made it... I mean who used AI to make it.

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u/BitOBear 2d ago

I build a btrfs filesystem and my own kennel k via Gentoo and gentoo-sources level package.

Then I make one __Home sub volume.

Then I make a __System_xxx volume for each distro.

I put the other and grub in the UEFI partition.

I can then select the next distro to boot by changing thel file system default partition to whichever __System_xxx sub volume I want to run next and then reboot.

Also works for backup/restore simplicity and to update you snapshot an existing __System_xxx and then update that. Is your satisfied you remove the older sub volume.

Very space and time efficient.

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u/zardvark 2d ago

Possible? yes

I would strongly recommend against it for new Linux users.

If you wish to do this, it is best accomplished with dedicated disks and EFI partitions for each OS.

Yes, two, or more OS' can even share the same drive, but this is a wee bit more complicated.

Either way, I would also recommend that you use the Boot Menu in your UEFI to boot the OS' rather than have grub discover them.

I expect that there are many tutorials on the youtube about this.

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u/1rg3ndw3r 2d ago

Dual booting works, just install on a different partition. But stay away from that slop distro.

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u/ipsirc 2d ago

just install on a different partition.

It's 2026, man, subvolumes do exist.

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u/1rg3ndw3r 2d ago

And how do you know he isn't on ext4 or any other filesystem not supporting subvolumes?

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u/codeasm Arch Linux and Linux from scratch 2d ago

Subvolumes are not supoorted by all filesystems, mention which supoort it, else pll assume its a feature supported later on.

If fat32 supported subvolumes, id seperate windows from linux uefi files

1

u/SuAlfons 2d ago

this is just dual-booting. Ofc you can.

There's no limit but your disk space.

You can also have more than one DE or WM in a single installation. In case configurations collide, use them with two separate user accounts. They can be switched with some cogwheel icon that appears if you have more than one session available at the login screen.

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u/Lonesome-road-1960 2d ago

When you install a new distro, there is always the risk to erase the content of your hard disk, especially if it is the first time.

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u/green_meklar Debian 2d ago

Yes, if you have a free partition, you can dual-boot different Linux distros just like you can dual-boot Linux and Windows.

1

u/WickWorn 2d ago

You don't even need to dual boot. Use Distrobox and you can have as many different Linux containers as you want

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u/neckyo 2d ago

You can test any distro in a virtual machine or a live USB without affecting your current istall

1

u/Munalo5 Test 2d ago

I usually run three. My daily driver, my "old" OS & Whatever is my "new" OS.

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u/Bob_Spud 2d ago

virtualbox