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I have looked at some of the other forum post and they don't answer my question.

I have been using various Linux Live CDs for some time now, but I've just bought a 16Gb usb 3 stick for a Linux (Ubuntu) install and I wanted some advice

I wanted to know wether I'm better of with a Persistent Live usb or a Full install

In an ideal world I would like all the features of a full install but portability will be important for me, I will be using it on two very different machines and will want to use it on friends and family's laptops for repairs. Is there a way I can have a full install with the portability of a Live USB install?

And thank you in advance

P.s this is my first post so sorry if I've done anything wrong!

EDIT: this question is not a duplicate of the one listed as it asks about the comparison of the methods, not HOW to do them.

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  • In the end I went for a full install in order to get the full features (REMEMBER to install the GRUB onto the USB stick and NOT the HDD of your PC) I have had no driver compatibility issues yet and have used the USB stick on ~4 machines.
    – Harvs
    Dec 18, 2015 at 17:29

1 Answer 1

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You are better off with a full install.

Persistence uses a cow (copy on write) overlay file. the cow file keeps getting larger and larger and often fails.

Persistence is helpful, IMO, if you want to keep your user or system settings and/or data in /home between boots.

Persistence is "OK" when you install a few packages.

Persistence fails when you try to use it as a substitute for a standard install and update all the packages or install a large number of packages.

Persistence fails when you try to install proprietary drivers such as nvidia or ati.

So, with a 16 Gb drive, IMO, you are better off doing a standard install.

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    Is there any way to make the full install more portable?
    – Harvs
    Mar 7, 2015 at 17:55
  • A full install is no more or less portable then the live image
    – Panther
    Mar 7, 2015 at 18:05
  • Both Persistent and Full installs have small advantages: ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1655412 Mar 14, 2015 at 17:42

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