Ubuntu install

I have been given a laptop that runs ubuntu for a linuxcnc machine. Will I need to wipe the laptop and install debian instead, or am I able to download linuxcnc onto ubuntu (even though everything I see online says its for debian) in the same way that I would onto debian? Sorry for such a simple question, I am completely new to this.

Hi, I am really struggling to install LinuxCNC. I am currently running Ubuntu, but this will change to Debian next week. For installing to Ubuntu am I able to download LinuxCNC directly to my laptop, or will I need to download the image to a USB stick and boot it all from there (and is it the same on Debian)? I have been trying to install it directly to my laptop, but am having no success. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

You can download the latest Linucnc image, write to a USB stick and then boot from it and run a Live session without having to install anything.
Later you can install it to the laptop.

Best way to install is from the Linuxcnc image written to a USB stick. When booting from it the opening menu will give you the option of running a Live session or installing Linuxcnc (this will install Debian Bookworm OS all setup for Linuxcnc), you'll find the installer is the Debian Bookworm installer. After the installation has run its course you'll have brand new installation of Debian Bookworm with the required kernel & Linuxcnc ready to go.
Whilst you can use one of the install ISO from Debian and do a plain vanilla install, then install Linuxcnc it's not the easiest route compared to the above mentioned method.

But. Here comes the advanced portion
Now if you are have some free space on the Ubuntu partition, say at least 16GB and can shrink the partition with gparted you can install Linuxcnc along side Ubuntu. To begin with I wouldn't install Debian from a Debian disk, I'd install it from the usb stick you have written the Linuxcnc image to..



The easiest way to shrink a partition is to use www.system-rescue.org/
Boot after you have written the image to s USB stick, type startx to start the gui, then run gparted to shrink the Ubuntu partition if there is the room. GParted is pretty intuitive and I've never had a failure, but it may be best to backup at least your home directory first if there is anything "mission critical".
Tho as has been said before Laptops aren't the best, not really recommended actually, for machine control. But to get an idea of how it works and even testing gcode via one of the simulation configs it will be fine.