Hi all :)

I manage a handful of websites and their emails using the PortableApps suite on Windows, so have a separate browser and mail client for each one. This has worked well for years, but now I'm switching to Linux, Mint specifically. I've read that I can set up profiles on Firefox and probably Thunderbird, or maybe run separate instances with things like AppImages, but it sounds like it's a messy solution, and could end up with me using the wrong profile by mistake

What I want to do is set up a virtual machine for each site, and have a completely separate instance of the programs, and hopefully a way to easily transfer the machines to other systems if needs be.

I'd prefer to use a Debian / Ubuntu based distro with Apt and the 'Windows' style desktop, as that's what I'm already used to, but am I better off installing Mint and stripping it down, or is there something more suited to this?

Thanks in advance :)

    • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      ·
      7 months ago

      It looks great, thanks :)

      I'm nojt sure whether I'm going to use it for this, as I haven't had a chance to try the package manager yet, but I'm definitely going to be giving it a test drive, even if it's only to see what it can do with such low requirements :)

  • socphoenix@midwest.social
    ·
    7 months ago

    install Debian the way you want up through the apps you need. Then it off and use it as a clone to copy for all your setups as needed.

    • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      ·
      7 months ago

      Alpine does seem to be the popular distro in the thread :)

      I'm planning on trying it out tonight and seein g how I get on with the package manager, not that I should need it much after the initial installation.

    • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      ·
      7 months ago

      Resource wise how does this compare to Lubuntu which is also Ubuntu based with XFCE?

      ISO wise it's about 500MB smaller which is nice when I'm messing around with VMs.

      • Granixo@feddit.cl
        ·
        7 months ago

        Lubuntu is (slightly) lighter, but lacking on software resources.

        Thus, i prefer Linux Lite.

    • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      ·
      7 months ago

      That looks good, thanks. I use Xubuntu on my media server at the moment, so I'm used to XFCE too :)

  • DavidGarcia@feddit.nl
    ·
    7 months ago

    Check out NixOS Containers

    Also: "NixOS's declarative configuration allows you to define your entire system configuration, including software packages, services, and system settings, in a single configuration file."

    https://nixos.org/

    https://mynixos.com/

  • bizdelnick@lemmy.ml
    ·
    7 months ago

    You can create a shortcut for each firefox profile. This won't give you an isolation like VM or container but similar to portable apps while consume less RAM.

    • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      ·
      7 months ago

      Thanks for the suggestion :)

      Profiles are what I'm trying to avoid. I have memory issues, possibly linked to ADHD, so I need the isolation more than the RAM savings. If everything's inside a container, I've got less chance of launching the wrong instance and screwing something up.

  • Shape4985@lemmy.ml
    ·
    7 months ago

    Artix is light and systemd free. Some super lightweight distros are tiny core and antix

    • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      ·
      7 months ago

      I like the look of these, thanks :)

      I'll have to skip Artix for this job, as I'm still relatively new to Linux, and can't afford to be learning lots with this, but it's definitely one I'm going to try out and play with :)

    • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      ·
      7 months ago

      Thanks for replying :)

      I do like the idea of Arch, and need to give it a try. I won't use it on these though as, at least for now, I don't know enough about it to be able to repair it if something goes wrong, especially if I need access quickly.