I would leave 10 GB for the Slackware root partition. Technically you can do with 6-8 GB, but it depends on how much software you install.

I personally would recommend to give at around 20GB for the /-partition. While H_TeXMeX_H is right that 6-8GB would be sufficient for installing the system it is very likely that you will need more space. Just create of DVD with K3B (creating the ISO in /tmp) and you will run out of space with only 10GB. I also don't think that a separate /home partition is needed when you have a separate data-partition. This is how I would partition that machine:

- sda1 primary, 80GB Windows system partition
- sda2 extended, the rest of the disk, containing
--- sda5 swap, in the size of the amount of your RAM if you want to use hibernate, otherwise 1-2GB are sufficient
--- sda6 /-partition for Slackware, around 20GB
--- Sda7 data partition to be shared between Windows and Linux, the rest of the disk

I divided it in three parts', / , /home and swap
For / I generally go with 15-20 GB. More than enough. I give my /home much space to contain personal data, Linux only, no Windows intervention.

Regards.

It really depends what one is going to use the Slackware box for. If you're going to just surf the web and check your e-mail you could get away with a lot less. However, if you're storing a lot of huge video files, pictures, and music the extra space may be needed.

Well my machine's parameters is:
RAM: 2GB's
HDD: 500GB
and other i don't think matters;
I'm planing in Windows store some games for it, so in Windows I think I will need some extra space..
And Slackware I will use basicaly for studying Linux, I want to learn it, so I won't just send and check e-mail, basicaly I will be using it like Windows, but with much more interest and capabilitys..
Few more questions have here..:
Let's suppose that I divided my HDD in two parts:
-Main: Windows OS ~100GB;
-Extended(what left):
--Linux Swap ~4GB's;
--Linux Slackware( I think it's root, right? ) ~ 50GB;
--Left space for other use..
My question would be do I need additional partition for user using, like /home or something like that /usr..?
And what basicaly is /swap partition and why do I need it?
I've heard that swap is related with low memory somehow, but how exacly?

Thanks, for answers.
Tomorrow will be the day when I finally will be installing Slackware on my machine, so I will come back before that for more additional information/advices..
Cheers!

Hi,

Welcome to LQ!

Partition schemes tend to be personal and dependent on the systems usage.

Nothing wrong with your scheme. Little generous with the 'root' filesystem if you are planning on using a separate partition for '/home' and '/usr'. If you plan on doing development or experimentation using Gnu/Linux then the larger partition for 'root' and using separate partitions for '/home' & '/usr' would have benefits. You could decrease the allocation for 'root' to 2-4 GB range if you do allocate space for '/home', '/tmp' and '/usr' on individual partitions. 'swap' allocation 2x the memory size was justified when the memory footprint was small but dependent on system use then the swap allocation can safely be a minimum size so a 2 GB 'swap' would suffice. Cost of hard disk space is cheap so the doubling of the swap to the memory size is overly safe.

Your personal growth for '/home' will depend on how the system is used. Same with '/usr'. If you plan on adding applications or bench development (IDE) work then the '/usr' space should be of size to reflect that need.

Sample for a bench system;
I tend to use external drives to provide space for static storage. If the need rises then I can add space over the network or drop a drive into the local space. Your mileage will vary.

Two good references Slackware® Essentials & Slackware® Basics.

Just a few links to aid you to gaining some understanding;



1 Linux Documentation Project

2 Rute Tutorial & Exposition

3 Linux Command Guide 

4 Bash Beginners Guide

5 Bash Reference Manual

6 Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

7 Linux Newbie Admin Guide

8 LinuxSelfHelp

9 Utimate Linux Newbie Guide
10 Linux Home Networking
11 Virtualization- Top 10

The above links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

Cool. Have fun!

Hello Again guys.
Well I haven't installed my Slackware yet, due a certain issues that I had faced with, but never mind.
So I've came once again, to ask some additional questions that I wanted few days ago..
So here I go:
So, how exactly should I partition my HDD that I would have C:/ and D:/ local disk drives on Windows and in the same time in Slackware I would have /root, /swap, and I don't know if I do need /home and /usr? And does /home and /usr are separate partitions that I would have to create during cfdisk on Slackware installation?
The second - will I'm goin' to be able to modify my partitions (delete, create, etc.) already after all installation processes?
Third - let's suppose that my Windows OS have crashed, I'm goin' to reinstall it, is it so simple, will it take an effect to Slackware?
And the last one - let's suppose that my Slackware crashed, I'm goin' to recover it from CD/DVD that I have, will it be so simple and will it take an effect to my Windows OS? And could you please guide me through LILO a bit, and bring some light about it?
And one additional question, often I see something like this:
What does /dev/.. means?

--Thanks for Answers!
--Hope that soon already will be able to finally dive into world of Slackware..!
--cheers!

You don't really "need" separate /usr and /home partitions. If you do create them, though, it can have some advantages, such as that you can format / and reinstall the system without losing your data. Somtimes, people put other parts of the filesystem on separate partitions -- /var, /opt, /boot... Sometimes, it can help you optimize the system that way. But for a home system I believe / and /home are enough.
The best way would probably be to create the windows partition first, then install windows, then, during slackware installation partition the rest of the disk for your linux system. If you have some space left after that, format it in windows as D:

You will be allways able to create/delete partitions if you have space left on your hdd. If you want to move/resize partitions, though, you will need a more sophisticated partition manager then (c)fdisk. You should definitely backup your data whenever you do something like that, though.

the last windows system I saw was winXP, so my information might be somewhat outdated, but as far as I know, windows has the unpleasant habit of rewriting the MBR, so after windows install, you would have to reinstall the linux bootloader.

Haha, that's a good one. But seriously, if you reinstall slackware it will not have any effect on windows unless you accidentally format your windows partition during install.

/dev is a directory in linux that contains the device files (everything is a file in linux), such as hard drives, partitions, input devices, cdroms and many others. Everything in your system that you can access in some way appears as a file in your filesystem somewhere.

1 members found this post helpful.

I can confirm that any Windows version overwrites the MBR during installation.

I want to thank all of you, for your great help..
Now I probably won't have a problem installing and running my Slackware, if I will, I know where to ask for sure..

--DW