# GNOME Boxes Makes It Easier to Test Drive Linux Distros

![GNOME Boxes Distribution Selection](http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/GNOME-Boxes-INstall-Distros-750x475.jpg)

Creating Linux virtual machines on the GNOME desktop is about to get a whole lot easier.

The next major release of  [_GNOME Boxes_][5]  is able to download popular Linux (and BSD-based) operating systems directly inside the app itself.

Boxes is free, open-source software. It can be used to access both remote and virtual systems as it is built around [QEMU][6], KVM, and libvirt virtualisation technologies.

For its new ISO-toting integration  _Boxes_  makes use of [libosinfo][7], a database of operating systems that also provides details on any virtualized environment requirements.

In [this (mis-titled) video][8] from GNOME developer Felipe Borges you can see just how easy the improved ‘Source Selection’ screen makes things, including the ability to download a specific ISO architecture for a given distro:

[video](https://youtu.be/CGahI05Gbac)

Despite it being a core GNOME app I have to confess that I have never used Boxes. It’s not that I don’t hear good things about it (I do) it’s just that I’m more familiar with setting up and configuring virtual machines in VirtualBox.

> ‘The lazy geek inside me is going to appreciate this integration’

Admitted it’s not exactly  _difficult_  to head out and download an ISO using the browser, then point a virtual machine app to it (heck, it’s what most of us have been doing for a decade or so).

But the lazy geek inside me is really going to appreciate this integration.

So, thanks to this feature I’ll be unpacking Boxes on my system when GNOME 3.28 is released next March. I will be able to launch  _Boxes_ , close my eyes,pick a distro from the list at random, and instantly broaden my Tux-shaped horizons.

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via: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/12/gnome-boxes-install-linux-distros-directly

作者：[ JOEY SNEDDON ][a]
译者：[译者ID](https://github.com/译者ID)
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[a]:https://plus.google.com/117485690627814051450/?rel=author
[1]:https://plus.google.com/117485690627814051450/?rel=author
[2]:http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/category/dev
[3]:http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/category/video
[4]:http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/12/gnome-boxes-install-linux-distros-directly
[5]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME_Boxes
[6]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QEMU
[7]:https://libosinfo.org/
[8]:https://blogs.gnome.org/felipeborges/boxes-downloadable-oses/