On 11/3/18 8:32 PM, D&P Dimov wrote:
I need to install and run Windows 10 as a virtual machine on the latest Debian Stable (9.5). I would much, much rather use a free (as in freedom) GPL-licensed software doe that. (I know, I see the irony too, of running the definition of proprietary software but still insisting on GPL for the virtual machine software... But it's better than dualbooting, as it'll allow me to use Windows even less this way!). But I have very little experience installing and working with a virtual machine (once installed Windz7 with VirtualBox) and have little support from people around me (our "computer person" is great and willing to help, though also has very little experience with this).From this Debian wiki (https://wiki.debian.org/SystemVirtualization#Open_Source_solutions), I am guessing Qemu or KVM, as they are recommended for laptops and desktops.In your experience, is any one of these two any better, i.e., easier to install and get to work, and allows the virtual OS to run fast and without freezing or misbehaving? Or is there another one not listed there you'd recommend? Thanks!
VirtualBox (mixed FOSS/ proprietary license) works well for my SOHO environment:
https://wiki.debian.org/VirtualBox
The GUI makes it easy to create, configure, and operate VM's. I also
run VM's headless via the CLI. I think you can access a VM remote
desktop with VNC (?).
Debian 9.5 Xfce on VirtualBox is responsive enough for typical office productivity and terminal work, but would not be a good choice multimedia or gaming.
My most recent installation notes follow. David 2018-08-12 16:09:49 root@po ~# echo 'deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian stretch contrib' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list
2018-08-12 16:12:09 root@po ~ # wget https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc .. 2018-08-12 16:12:46 root@po ~ # apt-key add oracle_vbox_2016.asc OK 2018-08-12 16:13:03 root@po ~ # apt-get update ... 2018-08-12 16:13:30 root@po ~ # apt-cache search virtualbox | grep virtualbox virtualbox-5.0 - Oracle VM VirtualBox virtualbox-5.1 - Oracle VM VirtualBox virtualbox-5.2 - Oracle VM VirtualBox 2018-08-12 16:13:36 root@po ~ # apt-get install virtualbox-5.2 ...