installing Ubuntu with existing /home partition
 

I currently have Suse 10.1 on my computer at work, however, I've decided I don't like rpms. I love apt and want to try Ubuntu without erasing my existing /home partition. Here is how I have my partitions set up:

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 124 995998+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/sda2 125 3163 24410767+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 3164 3169 48195 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 * 3170 9729 52693200 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 3170 6453 26378698+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 6454 9729 26314438+ 83 Linux

/dev/sda1 = swap
/dev/sda2 = /home
/dev/sda3 = /boot
/dev/sda4 = Extended
/dev/sda5 = root partition where I want to put Ubuntu
/dev/sda6 = root partition for SuSe 10.1

I have installed Linux before with a preexisting /home partition and everything went fine, except for one thing. Some of the applications (like Firefox) broke after loading the newly installed linux. I believe it has something to do with all the hidden folders (with the name starting with a period). Will a new Ubuntu installation overwrite some of these hidden configuration folders? If not, then which ones would you expect will break if they are using the configuration from an old distro? I guess the only ones I really care about are Firefox, Thunderbird, Gaim, and a couple others.

I know I can just backup these hidden folders, but how does that help me if Ubuntu does it differently? Also, what if Ubuntu 6.06.1 uses a different version of an app? Since this is a work computer, I would like to do this with the minimal amount of fuss. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

While I'm at it, I like bleeding edge apps, what sources do you recommend adding to the sources.list for apt?

The question is, do you like to keep your existing settings ? That is, you have customized the looks and feels of apps and desktop environment and would like to keep them ? It is hard to say which one's will work and which one wont ! While at SuSE, if you always kept your system uptodate and soon after installing Ubuntu, if you perform updates, most of the apps should work wihtout any problem, right ? At least logically !

If you are not too keen about the custom settings, you can back up what is needed and later restore these from the backup.

Sorry, for not being much helpful. Thought, I would put in a few words.

I would like to keep my existing settings, in case I need to go back to Suse. However, I also don't want those settings to break Ubuntu. Could I just create a /home combined with the new root, initially, and then later on, when I'm sure I don't need to go back to Suse, I can move that /home to the other partition, overwriting what is there. Does that sound feasible?

Yep, should work !

If all that you are concerned with is your data files, you can simply back them up somewhere and thus, not worry about /home at all ! If you trying to save your settings, then, what you have said about keeping aside the existing /home and then later overwriting it with the Ubuntu's /home wouldn't make sense as, this action would overwrite the files in your original /home, right ?

I don't think customizing apps and desktop takes that much of time ! You should be able to do it all in an hours time, eh ?

What I'd do is back up your settings from SuSE and then delete them (so that you still have the backup).

Then I'd install Ubuntu. Theoretically there shouldn't be any differences, however, SuSE has some software that does stuff differently from plain vanilla linux, and that does stuff differently from Ubuntu's modifications... in the end, they're not intercompatible though they should be.

By deleting the configurations that forces the distro to make new configurations.

I'd also suggest dual-booting SuSE/Ubuntu, and have the two users in the same partition, but different usernames. Like /home/lsauron and /home/lordsauron, so you could still "see" all your data regardless of whether you're in SuSE or Ubuntu, but keep them separate so they don't try and kill each other while you're looking the other way.

Good luck!