To get started, you need to download two things. The screenshots come from a Mac, but the install process should be basically the same for a Windows PC. It does not have a GUI desktop installed, so you have to interact with it through commands entered in a shell (you can add your own GUI later, if you’d like). In this post I show how to create a stripped-down Debian Linux virtual machine inside VirtualBox. They can also be customized for particular research tasks, as I will show in later posts. Since these virtual machines can be created from scratch whenever you need one, they make an ideal platform for learning command line techniques. Virtualization software, like Oracle’s free VirtualBox, allows one to create Linux machines that run inside a window on a Mac or PC. Nevertheless, switching to Linux full-time is a big commitment. Many are probably also sympathetic to arguments for open source, open content and open access. Many digital humanists are probably aware that they could make their research activities faster and more efficient by working at the command line.

How to use virtualbox with debian