Iam new in Linux,yes migrating from windows to Linux and now facing problem about Linux partion. ok as we know that
Partitions 1-4 are the primary partitions, while 5 and up are the logical ones,

So let me know that which partion show i make primary partion as which one Logical partion ?

Next ..that when i will install Linux in my 40Gb Hard disk will Linux will ask me that where to install the Operating system and the remaining programs.

For example if we take windows98 example we normally install the operating system in C Drive and it is up to the user to install MS Office either in C drive or Drive and it's personal files like Mps songs ,ofice files etc in E drive.

Keeping in view the above scenrio if we u using Linux then can i install Linux in

Root partion (Linux OS )
User partion ( User personal files,MP3 etc)
Home partion ( ---?---) what we will save here.

Now if i want any other partion to keep some things other then what name should i give it ?

My last question is what is the GNU/Linux .i mean what GNU stands for ?
Plz enlight about it aslo let me know any web site where i can learn the different Linux partions .
Bundle of thnkas for your valuable suggestion

About partitions. There are only 4 possible primary partitions possible on an ide hard drive. If you need more, one of the primary partitions needs to be an extended partition which contains a partition table, and the partitions hda5 and on up.
I'm just pointing it up because your message seemed to indicate that you thought you could have 4 primary partitions and other extended. One of the primary partitions contains the extended partitions.

About Linux software locations. When you install a program from an rpm package, or from a tarball (.tgz) source, usually the program and library files are installed in the /usr directory.

So if you are installing the /usr directory in it's own partition, make sure it is big enough because it will grow in time.

wow someone from pakistan -- cool
anyway
unlike Microsoft GNU/Linux and other Unix systems hide the existence of individual filesystems/partitions from the user.
everything is accessable by pathnames without reference to which disk patrition or even which remote disk or system the file is on. All mounted disks and disk partitions appear as part of one filesystem.
there is a standard for where things go but unfortunately different distributions will interpret the standard slightly differently.
http://www.pathname.com/fhs/
generally the distribution you choose will do all of this for you.. no decisions to make.
as you get further along and begin to compile programms for yourself then you choose.
or later if you decide to build your own system from scratch from source code.
partition scheme is something i know little about i only use one (root) and that workes fine.
just google linux partition scheme or someone else will help.
GNU stands for "Gnu is Not Unix" and is the system minus the kernel
http://www.gnu.org/
GNU programms are more advanced and scalable than Unix because of the advanced coding standards
http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/
and the GPL license
thanks mainly to the pioneering work of Richard Stallman
Linux is the kernel started as a MINIX kernel to run on i386 that turned out to be cross platform
thanks to Linux Tovalds.
http://www.levenez.com/unix/history.html#03

http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-history.html

The filesystem layout.
http://www.pathname.com/fhs/2.2/

linux doesn't care about partitions and what which is a primary or logical. As a beginner I probably wouldn't get to carried away about creating too many partitions. Once you create and assign mount points to each partition the installer will copy the files where they belong. A really basic setup and for example and Fedora's default partition scheme is
/boot
/ (root)
swap

I might add a /home and /var.

In creating more partitions you will need to figure out how much space to allow for each partition. You also do not mention which distro you plan on installing.

Well thanks all of u.I want to install Mandrake Linux 9 in my Hrd disk. It is 40 GB and my Ram is 128 MB .
Plz guide me that how many partion .

Plz explain about

/boot
/ (root)
swap


As michaelk says that " I might add a /home and /var"
so what should i keep in "Home" and "Var " partion .

Thanks for your replys

Read up on the links we have posted. They will describe what each /directory is used for. As a beginner I would pick the default settings and as you learn more then maybe you might want to customize your system.

Mandrake is a good beginner distribution and you might want to read up on the documentation at their website. http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/fdoc.php3

/boot is where the kernel files are located.
/ (root) is the top of the file tree. An analogy would be c:\ except that wouldn't be any d: e: etc... Everything including removable drives like CDROMs and floppies are below /.

When you create a regular user, a /home/username directory is created. This is where their personal configuration settings are located and
of course where one would save personal files.

A swap partition is the same thing as virtual memory i.e pagefile.sys on XP and W2K.

FYI /var contains variable data files, logs and other tempory data. It is used by the OS and a regular user does not use this directory for saving files or programs.

As far as being a new guy to Linux, I think at some point you have to lose all that Windows stuff neatly tucked away in your head. However if you must use that knowledge, try assoiciating it like this.

/ <Root> partition is like the C:\Drive in Windows

/Home partition is like C:\Documents and Setting <Dir> in Windows...

Whereas /Home/"you_ user_ account" is something akin to the My Documents folder for Windows users

I like to think of the /OPT partition in Linux as also being the working directory, I do stuff in here, like install applications etc..

Thanks again "michaelk" and john@IVC and rest of the people about linux partition. Yes iam new in Linux..and have an experience of how to make partiions with FDISK for windows but for Linux it was new every thing .

john@IVC explain all things with reference of Windows ..now my basic concepts are clear . Now there is a question regarding to Mandrake Linux but first i will move to Windows.

Ok i have 40 GB hard disk .My processor is 450 Mhz and Ram 128 MB I install windows98 in C drive and Office 2000, Winzip ,Adobe photoshop in D drive.

In short i keep my windows in C drive and the remaining software in D drive which is a good practice.

Now if i shift to another operating system lke Linux so my Mandrake Linux will install on Root partion
and where should the remaining things like Star office or remaining will install ?


here is a site

http://www.lesbell.com.au/Home.nsf/b...4?OpenDocument

and i can see many partions in it .like /Var, /temp, /opt partion .it is new for me
please enlight me with reference to windows that what are they.

Again bundle of thnaks for the valuable suggestion and guidence to all of u.

To confuse you a little more. The file tree is different then windows.

First of all /var is a directory. The data from /var can be located in a seperate partition but it is not required.

Lets say that your computer is partitioned.
/ - partition 1
/var - partiton 2
/home - partition 3

The / (root) filesystem contains all of the directories. When the Operating system is started the files stored in partition 2 are "attached" to the directory /var.

It is typical for applications such as Star Office to be installed in the /usr/local directory.

Thnaks "michaelk" again for your reply. Now let me know more about Partion that just like Fdisk we make partition for a new hard disk to install windows in C drive so is it also a good practice to make partions before installing Mandrake linux in hard disk.
I also use Partion Magic to resize partions within wndows98 .

If i make partions for a home user for linux then i will do

/Boot partition size don't know
/Root partition 8 Gb or more
/Swap partition 256 Mb
/var partition Size don't know
/Home partion 8 Gb or more
/User Partion 2 Gb (for two users)

About Boot partition size and var partition size iam confuse about it .How much space should i do it ? Further it is a raw estimate to make a partion to install on a 40 GB Hard disk .

Please make a suitable size for each partition .

Again bundle of thanks for your efforts.
Regards

If you have a 40 Gig drive you probably won't have problems. The partitioning that Mandrake suggests if you manually partition the drive are geared more to a server with a very large /var partition. If you are going to use the computer as a desktop, I would use a larger size for the /usr partiton since this is where programs you install in the future will go.

Or you could use the simple setup with swap partition and a root partition. This way, the the sizes of the directories like /usr and /home will be flexible not being seperate partitions, but you loose the ability to mount seperate partitions with different mount options, such as noexec and nodev for the /var and /tmp partitions.

plz guide me that about
/dev/hda1
/dev/hda2
/dev/hda3
/dev/hda4
/dev/hda5
/dev/hda6

and where should i put

/Root partition 8 Gb or more
/Swap partition 256 Mb
/var partition 2 gb
/Home partion 8 Gb or more
/User Partion 2 Gb (for two users)


thanks

gardenair,
why dont you try doing it, instead of asking too much?
take the chances. it is fun and it´s easy.

Simply create this partitions:
/ # the root partition
/home #users partition
swap #it should be the double of you RAM(memory)

and choose to install the boot loader in the MBR .
It is extremely easy, but you should go and do it, instead of asking a lot.

If you don´t like the partition application that comes with Mandrake, use Partition Magic, or:
http://www.icewalkers.com/Linux/Soft.../QtParted.html

Now, go and put that Mandrake Linux cd in!
and install Linux!!

"Electronkz" nice to read your ans and again thanks for the reply.
Iam new in Mandrake Linux ,shifting from Windows that is why every thing is new for me especially the partion system under linux but with the help of this forum it built a confidence in me .
Sure now i shall do it my my self and if i do it successfully i shall try to install both windows and linux Operating system.
Again iam thankful to all of the members who help me and guide me in a good way.
one last thing plz is there any site to download UNIX operating system .if yes let me know the size of it.
regards.

No problem,

UNIX is not free, so i doubt you can download it,
i can tell you this page that it´s exellent:
www.distrowatch.com
there are a Lot of different Linux flavours, as you knowLinux is a Unix clone.
Also in the site i gave to you, there are *BSD too, *BSDs are like the Linux brothers.
Anyway, dig in to that page, you will have a lot of fun.