Hi.

I have a usb thumb drive with two partitions, an 500MB ext4 and a 7GB f2fs. The idea is to try to install Linux on this usb stick using the ext4 partition as /boot and the f2fs as root.

I tried to launch Mint 20.3 Mate and ran the installer. Upon selecting method, I choosed "something else" and I was able to select the ext4 partition as /boot.
However - the using this installer,there are no real options to use a f2fs partition (it simply missing from the list of possible file systems, and it cannot be used unless already on the list).

I assume therefore that Mint cannot be installed (assign root) on a f2fs partition.


Therefore the question is - is there any Linux distro where the installer actually let the user select a f2fs partition and actually work ?

Or if possible - do something about the Mint installer (or other distro) for a workaround ?

Debian and Arch support the system, but whether it's a good idea is another question. I've read that it uses a very large block size; if that's true, then the root partition would become very bloated because it contains so many small files and 7GB might not be enough.

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmint/c..._mint_to_f2fs/

Suggestion is to normal install then copy off and format to filesystem then restore and fix boot issues.

Ok, thanks for answers. If Debian support install to f2fs, that's the way to go.

Maybe LMDE4 can do that as well, I should test that. Having to copy the files sounds like very cumbersome and also need a secondary storage for temporary installation.

I notice from web search that there ara apparently no tools available to convert from e.g. ext4 to f2fs - due to very different layout of file data?

I haven't seen any filesystem conversion tool for that. Might search for it.