[Sussex] Partitions problems from 'the nugget'

[John Crowhurst]

> Hi list,
>
> I won't bore you with the "why's and how's", but I've managed to kill
> both of my linux install's. I'm v confused as to how I should
> re-install. What I would like to know is that having read/heard that the
> proper way of installing stuff is to have seperate partitions, and
> having tried to decypher the "wisdom?" from O'really's Running Linux, I
> have come across this
> http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2001/10/11/filesystem.html

Having multiple partitions is easier to manage when you have multiple
drives. A common occurance on systems with many users is a seperate drive
for /home.

> The link article suggests that I need seperate /, /usr, /home, /var and
> /tmp partitions (well that's how I read it anyway). Which is all well
> and good. But my confusion arises because I normally have mandrake and
> debian(knoppix 3.3) installed on just 2 partitions (plus the ubiquitous
> windows and a linux swap partition).

You don't need to follow their guidelines and create lots of partitions
and get totally confused over them. I have my installations setup on 1 or
2 partitions, I find it so much easier to devote a whole partition to an
OS than fragmenting it up into lots.

It probably makes it easier when you fragment them to find which one is
full, but drives these days are huge, and the chances of filling 50G is
very rare (at least with logs or tmp files)

> All this has until today sat happily on a 120 gig drive (about 20 gig's
> for the windows, 1 gig for the swap, 50 gig's for mandrake and 49 for
> the debian/knoppix). Now given that I have the best part of 100 gig's
> available to do my re-install's, and following on from the advice in the
> O'really link, should I just chop the linux part of my drive into 10
> equal pieces or do some of the "parts" work acros both systems ? I also
> understand that it's wise to have some partitions larger than others
> because of what they do, or what you would normally have stored in them
> - another ?????

You could simply create a partition per OS, they aren't going see each
other unless you explicitly mount them anyway.

Windows
Swap
Mandrake
Debian

I'd add the following partitions to the mix:

Shared /home
Shared /other (for installation software and data)

> Sorry if this sounds like I'm being really thick, but I'm having "Linux
> withdrawl symptoms" after only 3 hours and hence any advice,
> instructions, guidance, etc on this is much appreciated

There you go, short sharp shock, 6 possible partitons that will work.

--
John