2 linux installations: how many partitions are needed?

[the dsc]

I'm thinking about (re)installing debian etch and sid or lenny (whichever is closer to stable, I don't remember now).

In order to do so, how many partitions do I need? Can the root folder of each linux be just a folder in the same partition? (Doing do, I would not need to decide upfront the limit of space I'll have for programs in each linux)

And what about the swap partition? Do I need two of them or they can "share" the same space? I think they can, it's only something that's used when linux is running, it does not really store anything there, is it right?

I think that probably the /home can be the same for both, but I probably cannot use the same user folders, each installation will need its own user folders and files for the hidden folders with configuration files for each program, because they will probably differ at least sometimes even in the more mundane applications, not only in the newest versions.

[oz]

You'll need a separate root partition for each distro.

You can share a single swap partition between all distros.

You can share a /home partition, but you'll need to use a different username for each distro so that the files don't become mixed and conflict with each other.

[rockaway]

I'm thinking about (re)installing debian etch and sid or lenny (whichever is closer to stable, I don't remember now).

In order to do so, how many partitions do I need? Can the root folder of each linux be just a folder in the same partition? (Doing do, I would not need to decide upfront the limit of space I'll have for programs in each linux)

And what about the swap partition? Do I need two of them or they can "share" the same space? I think they can, it's only something that's used when linux is running, it does not really store anything there, is it right?

I think that probably the /home can be the same for both, but I probably cannot use the same user folders, each installation will need its own user folders and files for the hidden folders with configuration files for each program, because they will probably differ at least sometimes even in the more mundane applications, not only in the newest versions.

It would be the best if you followed the basic concepts that is used when you are using a couple of linux installation at the same time.

[the dsc]

Thanks for the tip.



I was wondering. Perhaps something similar could be accomplished by "hacking" another distributin on order to make it somewhat like a live knoppix-like version of some other distribution, which can be run from the hard disk too. But I don't know anything about CD images, if they're easily edited in a way that could more or less easily emulate the normal thing, allowing the user to install and uninstall things. It's unlikely that someone already did so, and it's unlikely that I'd be the first. It's not something many people need so bad, neither do I...



It's so weird. Seems that would be so simple to have more than one OS in a single partiton, with just folders for the system root instead of the actual root of the whole partition... again, must be that most people don't need it.. but it looks almost silly... it's probably not so unlikely that someone would make a good use of it either... linux really drops the ball in this regard, I think.

[i92guboj]

Thanks for the tip.



I was wondering. Perhaps something similar could be accomplished by "hacking" another distributin on order to make it somewhat like a live knoppix-like version of some other distribution, which can be run from the hard disk too. But I don't know anything about CD images, if they're easily edited in a way that could more or less easily emulate the normal thing, allowing the user to install and uninstall things. It's unlikely that someone already did so, and it's unlikely that I'd be the first. It's not something many people need so bad, neither do I...



It's so weird. Seems that would be so simple to have more than one OS in a single partiton, with just folders for the system root instead of the actual root of the whole partition... again, must be that most people don't need it.. but it looks almost silly... it's probably not so unlikely that someone would make a good use of it either... linux really drops the ball in this regard, I think.

Unless you are really a hardcore masochist, linux really needs a separate root point for each install. Otherwise, you shall know what pain is.

You can always just install many distros under many directories, for example, /gentoo, /fedora, /arch... etc etc. And then chroot to one or another... Still, you need a basic distro to boot up, which must reside on your original /

All the distros would share the same kernel (well, nothing stops you from installing a different kernel for each distro and selecting it at boot time on the grub menu), and the services will also be shared. But you will be able to freely chroot and user the userland of the distro you preffer each day. The real question is why would anyone to do this.

[the dsc]

Seems like too much trouble for a newbie...


Thanks anyway. If I had more spare time I think I could try anyway... or maybe not... I didn't remember that configuring everthing the way I like could be so troublesome as well...