Investigate supporting Ubuntu based distributions

[noryb009]

Ubuntu used to have Wubi, which implemented a system similar to LICK for Ubuntu. It has been discontinued, the last commit to the trunk was in 2014. I believe the biggest reason it was discontinued was because of needing to support UEFI and push users towards proper installs.

The method Wubi uses to start Ubuntu from an NTFS drive should be investigated, since implementing it may allow many more distributions to be supported by LICK - Ubuntu, a number of its derivatives, and perhaps Debian and some of its derivatives.

[kuituhirvi]

Debian has this site and NSIS-based tool for installing to Windows.

Not saying that LICK could not be a better experience and therefore more widely used, but if there is duplicate work then that is not great either. To me the current GUI felt easy and intuitive, so would not keep editing that as a high priority. The installers themselves are also improving release after release so there is somewhat of a limited user base for these kinds of solutions.

[noryb009]

Thanks for letting me know about that tool! When I finally get around to this task, I'll take a look at what distros it does and doesn't support, and I will look for similar tools for other distros. I will try to avoid duplicate work where I can.

The distro install process getting easier is great - tools like LICK shouldn't be needed for new Linux users to install Linux. But until distros don't need to be burned to a CD or USB, and until all bootloaders play nice with Linux, there will still be a niche for LICK.

[kuituhirvi]

Main thing was that using LICK was fun. And it would have an advantage because it still uses installer ISO's. It would not even necessarily have to a niche because the amount of migration from Windows could increase if it was a more enjoyable experience.

Those installations could even eclipse the current CD/DVD/USB-installations.

If I would have to start from supporting one version that would propably be Linux Mint. It seems to be the go to for new users, has got some mainstream coverage lately and has a version (LMDE) based on Debian aswell. They also have some demand for this https://community.linuxmint.com/idea/view/17.