How to create a bootable Linux USB drive

soloojos (Lemmy)@feddit.cl to Linux@lemmy.ml – 183 points –
How to create a bootable Linux USB drive
zdnet.com
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Op was just using cp to copy the iso onto the drive no flashing or anything...

The cp command will write the ISO file directly onto the device. This is the official way that is recommended by Debian:

cp debian.iso /dev/sdX

Source: https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/ch04s03.en.html

Woah...

Damn I'm sorry for questioning this method, I didn't know.

This works because block devices like /dev/sdX are just files. If you cp a file onto another file, it overwrites the data of the destination with the source. A block device represents the device itself, not the filesystem; if you wanted to put the ISO inside the filesystem, you'd have to mount it first.

Next time I'll test out another distro I'll try just that... Sadly I just hopped yesterday from Fedora 40 to LMDE.