change partition size dynamically
 

on a RH 7.2 machine, the /usr partition is nearly full. The /home partition has plenty of space. Can I add some space from /home to /usr without reformatting or having to reinstall?

/usr = /dev/hda5
/home = /dev/hda6

For one thing, partitions must consist of contiguous space on the drive (they can't be fragmented). You would only be able to "trade" space if the two partitions were physically adjacent to each other. Another problem is that some repartitioning programs (e.g. GNU Parted) will "grow" a partition upward/outward, but will not allow you to alter the partition's start point, which is what needs to be done in your case. Check out Partition Magic; it isn't free, but it will probably do the trick.

see if this works http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/

alternatively you can create directories in /home and symlink to /usr.

eg. 'mv /usr/local /home/local && ln -s /home/local /usr/local'

AFTER you have gotten over this, maybe think about taking a look at the LVM utilities for Linux. I have had over a years experience with this, and it IS my answer. Mount partitions that you can turn into "drives" that shrink and grow on the fly. Look at google for linux LVM. Ray