[Digikam-users] Virtual Box experiences

[Paul Verizzo]

Hopefully this won't become another HTML scrubbed mail.  Grrrrrrr......

A very long, very much time wasted experience boils down to: Forget 
Virtual Box.  First, some distros just won't install (OpenSUSE comes to 
mind, can't remember why) and some install but upon starting the virtual 
machine, behave as if you were at the beginning of the live CD, like the 
newest Mandriva and Fedora.

Ubuntu, Mint, Mint Debian, PC Linux OS, installed and ran fine, to name 
a few.  The challenge starts with Guest Additions.

Usually, but not always, it installed without issue.  For me, it is 
imperative to be able to "see" my Windows C partitions because that's 
where my database is, and my D partition because that's where my three 
photo folders are.  Well, yes, there are the partitions in the Linux 
media folder, no problem.  But trying to access them, holy cow!  
Problems about permissions, etc.  Frankly, not worth the head banging. 

Reading the VB manual, there are many further instructions how to set 
this up to avoid the problems, with plenty of lines of entry for 
Terminal addicts.  Forget it.  A good example why Linux is stuck at 2% 
of the desktop market.

I scrubbed my ext3 and swap partitions on my hard drive which I was 
using for dual boot trials, put the empty space back into the C and D 
partitions, and installed Wubi.  Beautiful.  No GRUB, just another line 
in the easy to edit c:\boot.ini text file.  Windows partitions right 
there in Places. 

Perhaps it will be awhile before Ubuntu updates digiKam to 2.0, but in 
the mean time, what's not to love? 

Not on topic, but here's something I've come to realize:  Ubuntu is 
succeeding as the dominant Linux distro (50%+ use, it is believed) 
because someone (Canonical) is in charge.  It is the same reason that 
Mac OS is getting thousands of converts from Windows every day.  Someone 
is in charge, someone is making decisions to keep things (mostly) 
compatible and easy-ish to use.  Less burping, farting, head banging and 
other anti-social OS experiences.  Not what the anarchic Linux community 
wants to hear, but it's hard to argue with results.  If Linux ever 
becomes a sort of-quasi-semi-mainstream OS, it will be because of 
Canonical or similar company. 

My two cents.  Paul