Here's another "zealous" post about How-To-Run-Linux-For-Windows-Users. Not that I'm such a Livangelist, I still think Linux is really worth to try for everyone though, I'm much more a zealot for this project. I just read this post by Sekerob that it might still take quite a while for the stable Win-version to be released, so I thought to give it another try to lure some people into trying Linux and starting CEP2 on that platform. WARNING: Don't get hooked!!!

The option to run Linux are various and may depend on what you want or if you still need your windows while you crunch. Linux can be installed on a separate (flash-) drive, or a separate partition or there are various options to run it from inside Windows, which can be divided into two options again: as dual boot without partitioning, or inside a Virtual Machine so you can still use Windows at the same time as you're running Boinc on Linux.

There are many flavors and colors of Linux available, but I'll stick to Ubuntu and it's desktop derivatives, which is one of the most used distros. There is a choice of a few desktop environments (DE's) and there's a Boinc 6.10.58 version available for them at the getdeb.net repository so you don't have to run an older version that comes standard with Linux or manually install a newer version from the Boinc site. I run Xubuntu myself, where the X stands for Xfce, which is a lightweight DE. There of course is the normal Ubuntu which comes with the Gnome DE and you can also choose Kubuntu, which comes with the KDE DE. I went for Xfce because it's light and doesn't come with a boatload of software pre-installed that I don't use or can install later when I need it. I like Kubuntu as well but it's more heavy, but has lots of eye candy. I don't like basic Gnome on standard Ubuntu very much, but that could be because I haven't tried hard enough ;) In the end it's all just a matter of taste and you can install/remove any DE later on and choose what DE you want to run from the login screen.
Then there's a choice to make if you want to install a x86 or 64 bit version. On the Ubuntu download site there's a warning that the 64 bit version is not recommended, but as far as I've been able to find out this is only because there's no Flash version for 64 bit Linux available yet.
Another thing is that the x86 version will also recognize large RAMs above 3 or 4 GB.
You can download all of the X-/K-/Ubuntu distros as Live-CD which you need to burn to CD from their respective websites, put it in the CD-tray and reboot your computer. But first make sure to set your boot sequence in your BIOS so that your computer will boot from CD/DVD first before trying to boot from your HD.
In the boot menu from the CD you can choose to run the Live-CD or directly install Linux. If you're new to Linux you better poke around in the Live-CD first so you know what you can expect or want to try different DE's first before finally installing.


On installing Linux on a separate partition

Before resizing your Windows partition and partitioning your drive it's recommended to defrag your Windows drive (I use the freeware Auslogics defragger and use the Defrag & Optimize option to move all the data to the beginning of the drive) and create the necessary backups of your important files to an external medium in case things don't turn out as you'd have hoped it would.

To use a separate partition obviously is the best choice for fastest crunching. But you'll have to consider a few things: you'll need enough HD-space left and your windows partition needs to be resized. Partitioning drives can be a scary thing, but it really isn't, as long as your trembling fingers don't choose the wrong options and type in the wrong numbers. Beyond that it really isn't that hard. One warning: remove all external drives from your computer before partitioning and installing Linux, because you might end up partitioning the wrong drive and be very careful not to choose the option to partition your entire HD!! Read and choose the options carefully, not to loose your Windows partition if you don't want to. The process is not hard, but choosing a wrong option can be pretty disastrous.

If you choose to do a automatic side-by-side install the install-partitioner will not ask you any questions and just blatantly use half of your empty disk space of your Windows partition by default. This is the easiest option and you won't encounter any hard questions until Linux is installed (besides language/keyboard and time-zone options). At least, this is my experience. This might not be what you want because it can eat quite a lot of your Windows partition this way, so if you only want to assign a limited amount of space to Linux you should choose the third (manually create a new partition) option in the partitioning options and type the amount of space you'd like to use for Linux. It's already a couple of weeks ago since I did this myself and forgot the names of all of the options, but you may encounter a pull-down menu where you'll have to choose "/", I think it's the first one on top, and I used ext4 as file system.
I believe this was pretty much the hardest part. After this your drive will be partitioned and Linux will be installed.
You'll need to reboot your system (at one point your system might hang with a lot of gibberish on the screen, this seems to be normal so just switch off and on your computer). Your computer will boot in the boot menu where you can choose what OS you want to run. You might be curious about how your Linux install ended up so choose that one. When running Windows for the first time after the Linux install you might encounter an error that you need to run chkdsk but that chkdsk can't be found and such. I just booted into normal mode without running chkdsk without problems, and these warnings only happened to me the first time.


On installing Linux from inside Windows

There are a few options here. Do you still want to use Windows while running Boinc on linux or do you want to create an install from inside Windows that will create a multi-boot but won't do any partitioning of your HD. The last option might be a good option if you're afraid of partitioning, but it might be somewhat slower because of Linux will have to communicate with a NTFS file system. And of course you will will not be able to run Linux and Windows at the same time.

To have get Windows and Linux working at the same time you can use a Virtual Machine that enables you to run another OS as an application in Windows. Popular virtualization software apps are VMWare Player and VirtualBox. They're both freeware. I prefer VMWare because I think it's more straightforward to use, but it only runs on Windows (and Linux), so for Mac users VirtualBox is probably the best option. I already wrote a post about how to install Linux on VMWare Player over here .
If you run Linux on a VM it can slow down your crunching and/or your Windows apps, on my machine with about 20%. You'll have to consider and maybe play around with the amount of memory you assign to the VM not to harm your crunch-times too much while leaving enough memory for Windows and the Win-apps you'd like to use to run smoothly. Another disadvantage is that you won't be able to remotely control your Boinc client, at least, I still haven't been able to figure out how to do it.

The other possibility is running Linux from a "virtual partition", which is a file on Windows, as if it's a Linux partition, but isn't. There will still be created a multi-boot system where at boot-time you will have to choose what OS you want to start. You won't be able to use your Windows apps at the same time when running Linux, but you'll have no memory bloat of Windows and its apps either like in a VM and you can install them from inside Windows as any other software.
Two apps you can use that I know of are Wubi and andLinux . Wubi comes with the official X-/K-/Ubuntu Live-CD's in the root directory by default and will completely install from this CD, but you'll only have the choice to install the desktop version that comes with the CD you downloaded. If you download Wubi from the Wubi-website you can choose what DE you want to install from the installer, but the whole shebang will be installed by a web installer. If you install from a .iso download you won't need to burn it to CD as you can use freeware MagicDisc (or equivalent) to mount the image and access it with explorer from My Computer as if it were any mountable devise (e.g. CD/DVD or USB-drive).
andLinux is also based on Ubuntu and I've read a post on this forum from someone who installed andLinux and seemed happy with it.
Wubi and andLinux can't be used on 64 bit systems, but I don't have much experience with it so it might be possible in a way I don't know of.

Furthermore there are also possibilities to run Linux from flash-drives and there's of course Dotsch/UX, but I have no experience with those options myself, so I'm not able to give any information on them.


On Running Boinc on Linux

The Boinc software can be found in the Package Manager which is somewhere in the DE menu. Just type boinc in the search bar in the Package Manager and you'll be offered several options. Choose the plain 'boinc' package or just both the client and manager and install then (apply). Both the Boinc client and manager will be installed.
You may notice the version is not the newest one. There's another "repository" than the standard repositories that has a more up-to-date version. Go to this page on getdeb.net and follow the instructions to add their repository to your package manager. Now make sure this repository is marked in the Software Sources of the package manager and do an update (reload). Then search for boinc again you'll get to see the most recent version available, currently 6.10.58. Install like explained before. The Boinc-client will run as a daemon (the equivalent of a Windows service) and will start automatically after booting Linux. To start the Boinc-manager you'll have to search for it in the DE-menu and the rest should be known territory.


I'm sure I've left out many important things that will make people new to Linux feel more @Home in Linux, like starting/stopping the client and/or daemon, file locations or root access to files to allow remote control of the Boinc client, etc. but I, and I hope more people, will be willing to help you out where possible or direct you to the right recourses. But check out the Linux department of the Boinc-wiki first, much of it is explained there already. If you still have questions aways mention what DE you're working on, as things might be somewhat different on various DE's.

And if people find errors or want to make additional comments on my instructions, please correct me.

Have fun!
Bart