Brand new to Linux, I've received superb advice, and I am ready to install. I want Slackware, and I'm expecting to play with Slackware 10.2 for a month or so and then replace it with Slack 11 and the newer kernel. At the same time, I will also try Ubuntu to give myself some perspective.

My background is intensive Windows (XP, ME, and DOS long ago) with lots of browser testing (K-Meleon, Firebird/Fox); lots of trying out freeware; no games at all; huge amounts of data and library research; both Office and Open. I love comparing and testing. 2 HDDs, 80 + 30 GB, with 15 XP partitions. I'm a writer.

Now, Linux. —I am extremely impressed with my ignorance. I have studied SO MUCH, and I've been given such good advice, and yet you are about to realize that I don't have a clue what I'm talking about.

Free space in extended partitions, can easily be subdivided into logicals:
—10+ GB on master 80 GB HD
—6+ GB on slave 30 GB HD

I love partitions, but I'll follow some good advice I've received and KISS. So:
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/swap = on the inside of the 10 GB—1 GB to be shared by both Slack and Ubuntu

/ = on the 10 GB— 4 GB for Slackware. On the 6 GB— 3 GB for Ubuntu

/home = as above, on the 10 GB— 4 GB for Slackware. On the 6 GB—3 GB for Ubuntu. UNLESS you tell me the two systems can share these files, and so I need just set up one /home.

/boot = optional; I thought it might be nice to place a 400 MB on the 10 GB to hold boot data for both Ubuntu and Slackware. Too big? Too small? Ridiculous?
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That adds up to a bit less than 10 GB for Slackware, and takes up the full 6 GB for Ubuntu. Problems? Changes you'd make?

Thanks very much.

wow, you sure do love your partitions!

/boot: i think its pretty common to have a boot partition for linux.. about 100mb each should be just fine.

/home: yes, /home is just for user data and can be shared for both slack and ubuntu. note that there are alot of scripts and settings files in /home/username, so that if you share this partition, these settings will take effect [if applicable, ie ubuntu doesnt have slackware's KDE, slackware doesnt have ubuntu's GNOME] have and be the same in both installs, such as bash/login scripts.

/: for your 4gb slackware partition, i think the compplete slackware 10.2 install is about 3.5 gb, so i think 4gb would be pretty tight.. especially if your going to be installing alot of software.

just my thoughts, good luck with slackware!

Hmmmmm . . . . thank you, nadroj. Gee, I wonder if I'm making a mistake. Let me add this question:

—OR, if it looks too tight, would I be better to simply install Slackware and forget about Ubuntu? And, if I did just install Slack, could I then divide its components between the 10 GB and the 6 GB, so Slackware would be given a total of 16 GB?

I read something about "contiguous logical partitions", so these would be contiguous—sort of—except 60% of Slackware would be on one drive, and 40% would be on the other.

<<scratches bald spot>> And yet, I would like to try both these very different distros. Okay, what if I favoured Slackware, but installed both and shared everything I could between them? (I'm looking for a way of providing the best breathing space; I didn't realize I'd be crowding them.) BTW, (1) I'll be the one and only user, and (2) I don't play any games of any kind at all.

i was going to recommend just dropping the ubuntu idea (or dropping the slackware idea). id recommend just installing one at a time.

since you are planning to install linux on these 10gb and 6gb partitions, it makes sense to assume those partitions are empty (or whatever data they contain are unimportant). is it possible, in your situation, to just delete the 10 and 6 GB partitions and create one 16gb? if not, i think dividing the 6GB partition for all the slackware stuff would be fine.. and then using the complete 10GB for your /home partition, if you plan to have alot of media or user-files that would take up alot of space.

His 10GB and 6GB are on separate disks.

I'm with nadro on the testing part...that is try one (and as many as you like) distros one at a time. If you are just doing testing and just starting out, you mentioned KISS, don't worry about interoperability between distros right now. Just install a distro, try it...at least take some time to investigate it (which it sounds like you will do) and decide.

Much easier than doing all this partitioning just for tseting two distros.

I've been using linux for years and I've still yet to separately partition directories like /boot and /home. It's not necessary. YMMV.


One thing you might watch for is something I *think* I encountered once which was a bootable limit on hard drive cylinder location...although that may not have been it. Basically I *think* that if you have a partition somewhere way down on a disk (large cylinder offset) that it might not be bootable. Others will have more knowledge but for some reason I think I tried to slap a linux distro onto the last 20GB or so of an 80GB disk and it wouldn't boot.

187807:
of course! i knew, but forgot, that partitions in discussion were on different hard drives. thanks.

i also have yet to bother creating all those partitions--i have one '/' partition for my linux side.. thats it.

Thanks very much, both of you. Yes, I use lots of partitions in Windows for both function and fun. If this were an exhibition instead of a forum, I could demonstrate the function. The fun was greatly enhanced when XP introduced its very slick [>control panel >admin tools >computer management] "disk management", which put partitioning into a different universe. I call it the least known of the very best features of Windows. There, my Linux partitions are seen and shown graphically in the appropriate colour, complete with specs. There is only one single word missing—instead of "Linux", it says "(Unknown Partition)". And Windows can't actually create a Linux partition.

And this is what I'll do, thanks to your help. :-) By summer's end, I'll have a bit of familiarity with Slackware, and by then there will be a new Slack 11 with a new kernel. When I update to that, I'll decide how I'd like to modify my system further.

Thanks very much indeed, everyone.