The question to be answered is...
Which type of installation should I use on my USB (Live USB or full installation or an other options??) and how would I go about doing so to meet all my requirements?
Before diving deep into my personal needs relating to my question, note that I have read Difference between LiveCD, LiveUSB, full-install, and persistence? and understand the basic differences, but I need clarification on which would be better for my needs, and if my end result is even possible.
Here are my understandings/thoughts i have concluded about installing Ubuntu onto a USB, please clarify or address any misunderstandings i might have. (not that it matters, i am planning on using Ubuntu Gnome)
To my understanding...
(Live = Live USB, Full = Full Installation onto USB)
1) Running Live takes a longer time to boot than Full due to it checking its targets current hardware on the computer in order for it to know how to properly run on its target. A full will only be able to run on computers with the same hardware as the one you initially installed with. Although, once booted, both types of installation will run with the same speed.
Note* I read that Live uses compressed files, is this true? and wouldn't this cause the Live to be slightly slower?
2) Both Live and Full are able to obtain persistent settings, although, live boot requires additional work to create a separate partition to be used for persistent if wanting more than 4GB.
3) Both installations do the same amount of ware onto your USB when reading and writing.
4) You are unable to uninstall the pre-installed programs for Live but in Full, you have full control over the programs for which lay in the original image.
5) Live is unable to update Ubuntu when updates are present. With Full, updates are naturally installed when available like a normal system.
6) Both methods are equally as powerful. In other words, Live is NOT a smaller sample version of the actual Full.
Like i said, please correct or address any misunderstandings i may have. Everything i learned has been reading on the web so i'm not sure what is completely true and what is not.
What i would like about Ubuntu on my USB
1) Unlimited amount of persistent settings (limited by the size of the drive obviously) is a must, but to my understanding this is achievable by both.
2) Being able to update my Ubuntu when updates are released.
3) Being able to boot from any and all computers, which from my understanding is not possible by Full.
4) Being able to have full control of my Ubuntu, not a mini version or compressed file system.
By using a high memory flash drive with fast read and write speeds, i want to run Ubuntu off a USB on a variety of computers. If you can assist me in any way, i would greatly appreciate your help. I am under the belief that a full install is best, but i am unclear what partitions i need to create in order to have everything successfully on the USB so i can boot from multiple computers. I tried this and it worked but i was unable to get the boot loader to be on the USB therefore i could only boot from my home computer. So if the answer is a Full install, please help me out with the partitions. Thanks in advance!