Distro-hopping will be a fact of life for GNU-Linux users unless and until we
have device-specific distros, or Desktop Environments limit themselves to a
set of minimum hardware requirements that isn't constantly creeping up. That
being the case, it helps to learn how to do partitioning so that you can do
test installs without blowing away your production system.
Partitioning is as much an art as a science. During most GNU-Linux installs
you can create your own preferred partition scheme using manual partitioning.
I have a default scheme for all my boxes that looks something like:
* 15-20GB production OS partition
* xGB production swap partition (where x = 1-2 times the size of the RAM)
* extended partition (rest of drive space) with three logical partitions:
- 15-20GB test OS partition
- x GB test swap partition (I get the impression that using the same swap
partition for more than one installed OS causes problems?)
- /home partition (rest of the space on the drive)
Note: my understanding is that an OS works better from a primary partition,
but standard partitioning software can only create 4 primary partitions (the
swap partition and the extended partitions count as 1 primary partition
each), which is why I've taken to putting the 2 OS testing partitions inside
the extended partition. If the OS runs adequately in a logical partition, it
should run better installed on the primary OS partition.
You can alter the partition scheme at any time using Gparted from a bootable
live disk (bootable GNU-Linux on a CD/ DVD/ USB), but it's less of a headache
to put a futureproof partition scheme in place right from the start. You can
also alter some partitions by installing GParted on an installed GNU-Linux
OS, but you can't make any changes to the partition(s) you are running your
OS from, or any other partitions that are mounted at the time.
Every time you install a new GNU-Linux OS, when you set the target OS
partition as "/", you can mount your user files partition as "/home". Just
make sure it's *not* set to be formatted, and backup anything you don't want
to lose before you start the install, just in case.
Finally, if you let them do automatic partitioning, some GNU-Linux distros
will create LVM partitions. In theory, these make it easier to resize
partitions etc, but GParted doesn't seem to be able to work with them, and
I've found them to be a headache. Before using LVM as part of a production
system, I suggest setting up some LVM partitions on a spare drive and getting
confident with the commands that work with them.
