siamhie wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 7:24 pm
Explain what the OP is trying to do here?
Before I begin, I just want to underscore your statement "No need to go the route you're thinking of."
Let's go through the ask piece by piece.
advice1010 wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 11:34 am
(1) I was wondering there was any way for user to be able to create a Live USB using the official MX XFCE install ISO from MX website.
(2) Then boot into that official MX Live USB.
(3) But then rather then installing MX from this official MX Live ISO that is running live, somehow be able to restore a saved ISO created by
MX Snapshop instead?
So let's walk through this. (1) Is there any way for a user to create a live USB from the MX Xfce install ISO from the MX website? Yes. The simplest way is to download the MX Xfce install ISO from the MX website. This is what we professionals call a "freebie" or a "no-op". There's nothing to create. It's already been created for you.
Now, (2) can that official MX live USB be booted? I sure hope so. If you can't boot it, notify the developers and they'll investigate it.
That leaves (3): from an official MX ISO live session can an ISO made with MX Snapshot be installed instead?
On the face of it this sounds like an incredibly stupid question. It's a little like asking "I own a horse and I ride it to the store. If I buy a car, will my horse be able to haul it to the store so I can still buy groceries?" The answer to that is "My friend, you don't need the horse anymore. Stop overthinking things." But hang on. There's more.
I'll quote you again: "No need to go the route you're thinking of." The reason I mentioned all the steps needed to install Linux the hard way -- twice -- in post #4 was to highlight just how stinking convoluted it is to make ISO A, download ISO B, boot ISO B, and then use it to install ISO A. Can you download the official MX ISO and use it to install a different linuxfs file?
The answer here is: "It's Linux. Yeah, you can probably do it." Not only can you probably accomplish what you want, but there's a good chance you could find a way to run Doom while it happens.
Does that make it an easy thing? No. Does that make it a smart thing? Absolutely not. If I cared, I'd ask the OP to, once again, stop trying to turn the things designed to make life easier into
things that make life harder. Could you make open-toed galoshes? Yes. Should you? No.
The only reason I can think of that someone would eschew the very fine gazelle-installer that comes with every official MX ISO and snapshot ISO is that they're doing something decidedly off-label, like run MX Linux as a ZFS on root system. This is something I've been doing since the late MX-18.2 era, and the short version is that there's no easy way to trick gazelle-installer into recognizing a ZFS dataset as a valid install destination, so I'm left with the fdisk/mount/unsquash/mount --rebind/chroot/config/grub-update/grub-install/exit method.
No one in his right mind should do this, and those who'd ask if it can be done shouldn't attempt it. No one should pull this kind of stunt until they not only know the answer to OP's question, but could also answer it, if asked, cogently him or herself.
Back to the question you asked:
siamhie wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 7:24 pm
Explain what the OP is trying to do here?
OP is trying to start a Socratic dialogue. Not particularly interested in solving a real-world problem, but posing a theoretical what-if scenario and seeing if anyone around here knows enough to point out both the method and the madness in it. "I've posed something silly, but possible. Who's going to say it's silly? Who's going to say it's possible? Let's watch them argue with each other." That sort of thing.
Can you boot ISO A and install ISO B? Yes. Should you? No. Installing from the ISO you use to boot is sufficient for I suppose 98% of all use cases, and the remaining 2% know how to take care of themselves. As you said, "No need to go the route you're thinking of."