DD, GhostBSD and Windows

[wove]

One of the things I have liked about the BSDs is they have a tendency to treat every task as a learning opportunity. Today I was reading the release notes for a new version of GhostBSD. In the how to install section they say to write the iso download to a USB thumb drive. I think every Linux distro I have looked at list some image writer application as the way to go. And image writer applications work just fine for BSD bootable ISOs as well.

However GhostBSD lists dd as the preferred way to create a bootable thumbdrive. The list the specific dd command for Mac, for Linux, and for Windows. Window dd has an asterisk that notes Windows does not include dd and they provide a like to download dd for Windows. I found that a real hoot, no link to etcher or the Pi ImageWriter or Rufus. Nope, just a download link to add dd to Windows.

That also just made me wonder if the new Window's terminal includes the dd command? I have nothing against point and click applications and I use them quite often. I am glad though that I had the opportunity to learn command line tools, they do provide a solid grounding in the basics of how computers work.

[dai_trying]

One thing I would say about dd is that you have to be a bit cautious with it, if you enter the wrong path (ie /dev/sda instead of /dev/sdb) you could wipe your primary partition pretty darn quickly! I generally use cp to write iso images to removable media although I would imagine the same warning should be given as using a wrong path could also result in losing data.

Also with both the above commands, it is often used mistakenly, and I have seen many users specify a partition (ie /dev/sdb1 instead of /dev/sdb) which again could cause failures.

These are some of the reasons it is "better" (especially for new users) to use the image writing utilities out there to write to removable media as they (usually) only offer removable devices in their drop down boxes, therefore bypassing the possibility of user error in this way.

With that said I always use cli options as they are generally faster and easier (IMO) and require no additional installation as I do not recall the last time a distro didn't offer them ootb.

[crosscourt]

I try to avoid recommending dd to users as Ive seen way too many issues. For most users point and click is the best option.