splinux - Run a parallel Linux installation
Suppose we have an old hard drive with an old Linux installation on it which we use now as an external drive only. What, if we need not only a specific file, but also a specific application to run? But better: what, if we need the entire desktop environment? If we have to run only a terminal application a chroot command to the partition with the target Linux installation would be sufficient. But it is a little complicated if we want to run a GUI application or to run the original desktop environment. I wrote the following scripts to automate this procedure. You need on the command line only to specify the mount point of the target Linux installation, the user name and the command to run. Suppose we have the target mounted on /plinux and want to run konqueror, then we should type the following command:
sudo splinux -m /plinux -l nebil -c konqueror
If we want to run the entire desktop environment on its own display with a new X session then we need the following command:
sudo xinit -e splinux -m /plinux -l nebil -c kde -d :1 -- :1 vt8
Download source code here: