Recommended Linux 'Multi-boot' structure?

[Old_Biker_John]

Hi All,

As a complete Linux newbie, intending to escape from Windows, I am testing several distro's in turn. However, I can't decide on a single prefered distro yet.

My current test setup has the following partitions: -

/ _____04GB
/USR __08GB
/VAR __04GB
/TMP __04GB
/HOME _16GB
/SWAP _04GB

If I make my system 'multi-boot' Linux to concentrate on testing my shortlisted distro's, can I share any of the directories between distro's to reduce overall partitioning needs?

Any guidance offered will be gratefully received,:)

John.

[TOMMOHAWK_UK]

Hi John,

You don't need to have that many partitions for each distro.

When you install any distro from scratch then all you need is 1 partition for root (/), 1 partition for /home and 1 partition for /swap. In fact you don't even need to have a separate partition for /home as it can be part of your root (/) partition.

I installed PCLinuxOS recently just to test it out and I installed it on a single partition so it can be done quite easily.

As for your other question, the only partitions that can be shared are your /home directory and /swap partition. I wouldn't recommend sharing /home though as different configurations can be written by the different Linux OSs which could completely screw your /home directory up. Sharing a /swap partition will cause no problems at all.

Also, when you install each distro, it will overwrite your GRUB files and hence you will need to edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst file each time to ensure that you can boot each separate distro.

Personally, if it were me, I would do your testing using the LiveCD versions of the distros. It is much easier and doesn't mess up your system.

While I think about it, your /swap partition on the setup you have listed looks quite large. How much RAM do you have? The recommended size for /swap is double your RAM. Also, your /home partition is quite large. It only needs to be between 5-10GB providing you store any downloaded files elsewhere.

Post back if you need any other advice.

Ken

edit: I just noticed you have 4GB of RAM, limit your /swap to about 2GB. In spite of what I said above, your system will probably never use the /swap partition with that much RAM. I only have 2GB in my laptop and my /swap usage has never gone above 0%. I have alot of suff installed and running in the background and my total memory usage has never gone above about 400MB. Linux is alot more memory efficient than Windows which would probably use all your memory and swap file combined just because it can!!

[RRB]

I only have a root and home partition and ofcourse a swap. TOMMO has summed it up pretty much and only thing i could add is probably that you can always look into virtualisation i.e. Virtualbox or VMware to install guest linux distros to play with them.

[Desmo]

I use Virtual Box in Ubuntu if I want to have a play with something else. It works really well and lets me test out different Apps before I put them on my main system. I also run XP in a VB for some other work I need to do.

[Old_Biker_John]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for your response to my questions. Sorry for the delay in replying, but have been very busy in the last few days building a new system (see revised sig).

Hi John,

You don't need to have that many partitions for each distro.

That's a relief!:)

When you install any distro from scratch then all you need is 1 partition for root (/), 1 partition for /home and 1 partition for /swap. In fact you don't even need to have a separate partition for /home as it can be part of your root (/) partition.

I'll try that method then.

As for your other question, the only partitions that can be shared are your /home directory and /swap partition. I wouldn't recommend sharing /home though as different configurations can be written by the different Linux OSs which could completely screw your /home directory up. Sharing a /swap partition will cause no problems at all.

OK, I'll only share /swap then.

Also, when you install each distro, it will overwrite your GRUB files and hence you will need to edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst file each time to ensure that you can boot each separate distro.

I will read up on this first, but it may generate further questions.:rolleyes:

Personally, if it were me, I would do your testing using the LiveCD versions of the distros. It is much easier and doesn't mess up your system.

I have been trying some LiveCDs, but they don't always have the applications that I want to try out and appear to limit the available system functions (even as root) for novices. I need to install one or two distros to experiment further. Besides, I have a new, clean system to experiment with now.:grin:

your /home partition is quite large. It only needs to be between 5-10GB providing you store any downloaded files elsewhere.

Thanks for that tip. I will reduce the allocation for future attempts.:)

I just noticed you have 4GB of RAM, limit your /swap to about 2GB. In spite of what I said above, your system will probably never use the /swap partition with that much RAM. I only have 2GB in my laptop and my /swap usage has never gone above 0%. I have alot of suff installed and running in the background and my total memory usage has never gone above about 400MB. Linux is alot more memory efficient than Windows which would probably use all your memory and swap file combined just because it can!!

I will reduce the /swap size to 2GB. How refreshing to work with an operating system that is miserly with your PC's resources.:grin:

Thanks for all your helpful advice,

John.

[Old_Biker_John]

I use Virtual Box in Ubuntu if I want to have a play with something else. It works really well and lets me test out different Apps before I put them on my main system. I also run XP in a VB for some other work I need to do.

Hi Desmo,

Thanks for your information.:)

I like the sound of Virtual Box (especially the chance to contain XP and control it a bit!) and will try it out as soon as I can.

All the best,

John.

[Old_Biker_John]

I only have a root and home partition and ofcourse a swap. TOMMO has summed it up pretty much and only thing i could add is probably that you can always look into virtualisation i.e. Virtualbox or VMware to install guest linux distros to play with them.

Hi RRB,

Thanks for your suggestion.

I see that Desmo has similar thoughts.

I'll definitely give Virtual Box a try.:)

All the best,

John.