Linux

55731 readers

1191 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
No misinformation
No NSFW content
No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 6 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

One single partition for Linux versus using a partition table? (slrpnk.net)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

95 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Heya folks, some people online told me I was doing partitions wrong, but I’ve been doing it this way for years. Since I’ve been doing it for years, I could be doing it in an outdated way, so I thought I should ask.

I have separate partitions for EFI, /, swap, and /home. Am I doing it wrong? Here’s how my partition table looks like:

FAT32: EFI
BTRFS: /
Swap: Swap
Ext4: /home

I set it up this way so that if I need to reinstall Linux, I can just overwrite / while preserving /home and just keep working after a new install with very few hiccups. Someone told me there’s no reason to use multiple partitions, but several times I have needed to reinstall the OS (Linux Mint) while preserving /home so this advice makes zero sense for me. But maybe it was just explained to me wrong and I really am doing it in an outdated way. I’d like to read what you say about this though.

(page 2) 49 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

It's not wrong, as such, but simply not right. Since you're using btrfs, having a separate partition for home makes little sense. I, personally, also prefer using a swapfile to a swap partition, but that's potato/potato.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Also, if I don’t indicate a swap partition during install, would the OS use swap files automatically?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I think the last time I installed Mint (21.2) it DID create a swapfile. Don't use it, so commented that out in /ETC/FSTAB.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

I don't know, haven't used Mint in a decade. It's not difficult to set it up, though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Alright, but actually I don’t think I’m maximizing my use of btrfs. I only use btrfs because of its compatibility with Linux Mint’s Timeshift tool. Would you be implying if I used btrfs for the whole partition, I can reinstall / without overwriting /home?

load more comments (3 replies)

[+] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

How do I set that up?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Boot from a live distro so you can modify your boot disk. Use the disk utility to create partitions. Copy the data to the relevant partitions ensuring to maintain file ownership and permissions. Modify /etc/fstab to mount the partitions at the designated locations in the filesystem.

I don't bother putting anything but /home on its own dedicated partition, but if you ask 10 people this question you'll get 12 opinions, so just do what feels right.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Thanks

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Note: Create your partitions from your empty space. You may need to resize your existing partition to do this. But don't practice on your main drive.

This is a simple job, in that the steps are few, but it's something that causes catastrophic data loss if you get it wrong.

I'd recommend buying a cheap second drive, doesn't have to be big or even good. Partition it, mount it, make sure you can make the partitions automatically mount, teach yourself to copy data around, umount it and remount, make sure you got it right.

Just.. these are all very simple things. I wouldn't hesitate to repartition my own drives. But if you fuck it up you fuck it up good. Make sure you know the operations you're taking first. Measure twice, cut once, all that jazz.

load more comments