Evaluating Linux distros with the help of their live mode directly from a USB drive is very convenient, but in most cases we end up devoting all the available space to a single distro. That said, why not integrate several operating systems on the same USB drive? The program to achieve this is MultiBootUSB.
The advantages of live USB mode in Linux distros are very important. First, the user can verify the level of compatibility the operating system has with the available hardware. Then they can study the most relevant details of the interface, as well as its limitations. The same extends to the preinstalled software package and how easy it is to modify that content.
However, it doesn't make much sense to dedicate an entire USB drive to a single distro. The market already offers units with staggering capacity, and when we study the average size of the most popular images in the Linux world, they barely exceed one gigabyte. So we come to the underlying question: What prevents us from installing more than one Linux distro on a single USB drive? The answer is nothing.
How to install multiple Linux distros on a USB drive
It all starts by downloading a copy of MultiBootUSB. The tool is compatible with Windows and Linux (whether DEB or RPM packages), and once installed, the task is divided into three steps.
- First, we insert a USB drive and wait for the operating system to detect it. MultiBootUSB works with various formats, but for extended support reasons, FAT32 is recommended, unless the ISO is larger than 4 GB.
- The second step involves locating and choosing the ISO image to process by clicking the Browse ISO button.
- Finally, we click the Create (the persistence parameter can be left at 0).
Another option within MultiBootUSB is to evaluate Linux distros through a QEMU environment. In essence, what it does is "boot" the ISO images or a USB drive without needing to restart the computer. Needless to say, QEMU carries some performance penalties, and the Linux version requires additional configuration, but it's good to know that something like this exists.
