managing partitions

[maja_ldm]

hi all
I’m thinking to try ubuntu in dual boot, I had done it before letting space for programs in the os partitions, then removed linux for lacking of time to try it and needs of space
now, could it be practical to make small partition for every of the two os’s and then install ALL of the other programs in a common third “data” partition? does that would slow down too much the system?

also: note I’m a noob, is it hard to keep clean of win-viruses browsing the net with ubuntu?

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

Its not possible to use common partition for program sharing in different distros.
How much space do you have? 6-8 GB is enough for Ubuntu.

[maja_ldm]

hi,
I was meaning:
- 5-6gb for winxp
- 5-6gb for an unix os
- all the remaining: a common partition with a 'win program files' and a 'linux program files' directory

so I can don't care in how much space to let for the programs in the os partiotions. I come to think there's not much problem for that...

the fact is I want to eliminate windows for my internet needings, but don't feel like to dump it all.

[jayd512]

Hello and Welcome!

As advised by devils casper, you won't be able to use common partitions for program sharing in different distros/OS's. It has to do with the different libraries and package managers. But 5-6 gigs is definitely minimal when looking at room for XP or for Ubuntu. I would advise at least 8-10 for XP, and around the same for Ubuntu.

is it hard to keep clean of win-viruses browsing the net with ubuntu?

Windows viruses can't infect Linux OS's. But they can be carried by a Linux box and transmitted to a Windows machine.

the fact is I want to eliminate windows for my internet needings

No problem there, as FireFox is the default browser used in Ubuntu.

[jmadero]

my recommendation is give Ubuntu about 6 gigs for the OS and home folder. 1 gig for SWAP, set aside about 10-15 gigs for XP OS and then make a shared FAT32 partition (I did something similar although my hard drive is quite a bit bigger so I separated the home folder from the root folder). With the shared folder it will show up as a D:/ in Windows so you can install programs on it and for Linux you can store a lot of extra stuff (like documents, videos, music, etc...) on it, in Linux you can mount the partition wherever you want (mine is mounted on /media/main but you can mount anywhere you like).

[maja_ldm]

so, excuse the slowiness.. in the "media partition" that jmadero talks about I can install win software but not linux applications, that's it?

PS thanks to all

[jmadero]

Basically, yes. If you set up the partition the right way it'll just be a D:/ in Windows so you can install things fairly easily that way.

With Ubuntu you usually will use synaptic (or if you don't like the GUI like me you'll just use the command sudo apt-get install...). Ubuntu installs things in /usr/bin (for the most part), so this is where all the executables go (you can go browse the folder if you'd like. For linux "/" means the root folder where everything is (so for example your desktop is /home/username/Desktop). Just imagine it as a tree diagram with "/" as the head of it and then it branches off.

Because of your limited HD space you can't separate / from /home -- this can be helpful because specific configurations go to your /home/username folder. Example would be mail client (I use thunderbird). The executable thunderbird is in /usr/bin (this got there by me doing sudo apt-get install thunderbird). But all of my email configuration and email itself is in my /home/username folder. What this means is that when I reinstall Ubuntu (something I do often), once I get thunderbird again with the above command, it is fully configured and all of my email is there (other examples are firefox bookmarks, compiz settings, etc...). Because you don't have the space to separate the two all of your configuration settings will be on the same partition as the root and executables.


Hope that all made sense. We're all here to help each other, feel free to ask anything else, welcome to the wonderful world of Linux

[maja_ldm]

I think I'm getting it..

maybe I'll go with 12gb for ubuntu and its stuff, 8gb for xp, and the remaining 90gb apart for win applications and media stuff.

just as a last thing: does ubuntu automatically sets up the configurations save folder (/home/user) ?

[jmadero]

Ohh I thought you had way less space than that, I would recommend a VERY different setup. 8 gigs for XP is not enough, it'll get fragmented and screw up (one of the many issues with windows). You need to always have at least 20-30% of the drive open to defrag right (yeah that means that 20-30% is wasted at all times). If I were you I would do this:

1. XP partition minimum of 12 gigs, maybe push it to 15.
2. Ubuntu root partition ("/") set to 5 gigs
3. Swap 1 gig
4. Ubuntu home partition ("/home") set to about 10 gigs
5. All remaining space goes to a shared mounted wherever you want (ie. "/media/share")

If you need help with the manual set up I am available to help through pidgin (AIM) just private message me on the forums to get my sn.

To answer your last question, yes that's the default and I don't believe it's easy to change. Since you are new to linux and probably will at least do something wrong once (not a negative thing, best way to learn), I would highly recommend separating the home partition from the root partition, just makes things so easy...

After you get Ubuntu up I would get a complete list of steps that you did together (including all programs you installed) and then make a bash file. I did this and now basically I install Ubuntu on the / partition (I don't touch any of the other ones), and the I just run one command in terminal (sudo bash install.sh) and it installs all programs, sets up my wireless, and updates my sources (it's pretty handy).

Let us know how it goes

[Bemk]

If you're using XP, and you are not feeling like messing around with partitions and stuff, Try Ubuntu's Wubi installer. It uses your windows partition to Boot Linux. I've installed it at my sister's computer and it was a piece of cake. It creates a Windows/Ubuntu dual boot. The only thing that's not usable (as far as we've noticed) is the hibernation functionality. The rest is exactly the same, and you begin your setup from Windows.

I don't have much more info to give but maybe this is a subject other forum members know about so they'll be of more help. Of course you've got a good friend called Google and you can ask him anything too.