Partitioning With Linux

jbw716

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Apr 26, 2014
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4,560
Hello everyone. I'm will be soon installing Linux Mint Cinnamon edition onto a dedicated 2TB HDD I have for it. I am wanting to put my /home and my root directories on separate partitions. I was wondering, do programs for Linux install to your root directory or your home directory? What, besides the OS, is the root directory used for? I'm currently just trying to figure out how big I need to make my partitions. Also, I hear that you should make your swap partition twice a big as the amount of RAM that you have. Does this still apply is you have a lot of RAM. Like, 16GB of RAM? Thank you for any help!
 
Solution
Personaly I recomend You other Linux distro:

1. Visit www.debian.org, read a little about this distro (imo its best). And the installer is really simple, like step-by-step guide.
2. Read about GNOME or KDE graphics enviroment (You can use both) - they are something like "windows" for linux, in both of them You can run console (command line :). They are very nice looking, fast working and really simple in use.
3. Do not mess with partitions during installation, if You get bit more expirience and understanding of linux os then do experiments :)
4. There are few quite nice games for linux, also office programs, GIMP for graphics etc...

I recoment Debian becouse debian packages are really easy to use. Read about APT GET for debian. Its...

jaml

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May 3, 2008
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18,520
What type of programs? It depends on account (root / other user) that you are logged in when instaling program. It depends on program it self. If You mix partitions and dirs wrong way Your programs will not work. Keep in mind that lots of program during install process are compiling some of their components. From Yours questions I think that Your are unexpirienced user of Linux and messing with root / user dirs and partitions is not good idea.

Swap should be twice much size as your mem. So in Your case 32GB.

Why You choose to install Mint Cinn distro of linux and what You will use it for? If You can provide more info maby I be able to help You more.
 

jbw716

Estimable
Apr 26, 2014
13
0
4,560


You would be correct. I am an inexperienced Linux user. I am currently wanting Linux Mint simply for the interface. I personally just like the feel if Linux much better than Windows. I will be doing some gaming (I know there aren't nearly as many games available for Linux as there are Windows), maybe some video, audio, and photo production, and then other than that, just web browsing and maybe some school works such as PowerPoint making and typing word documents. I also like the freedom and customizability of Linux. I plan on ;learning how to use the command line fluently. I already know a little bit about using it, but no too terribly much. The main reason that I am working with partitions is because I want to be able to easily switch between Linux distros if I ever chose to do so.
 

skittle

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Dec 27, 2006
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18,610
Generally what you will want is to have two partitions. One for / and one for /home. If you want to switch distrobutions then simply install over / and use /home partiton without formatting it.
 

jbw716

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Apr 26, 2014
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4,560


Yeah. I pretty much got that much. I am just unsure about what size I should make the / partition. Once I know what size to make the / partition, I'm going to make my 32GB Swap partition, and use the rest of the HDD for the /home partition.
 

jaml

Distinguished
May 3, 2008
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18,520
Personaly I recomend You other Linux distro:

1. Visit www.debian.org, read a little about this distro (imo its best). And the installer is really simple, like step-by-step guide.
2. Read about GNOME or KDE graphics enviroment (You can use both) - they are something like "windows" for linux, in both of them You can run console (command line :). They are very nice looking, fast working and really simple in use.
3. Do not mess with partitions during installation, if You get bit more expirience and understanding of linux os then do experiments :)
4. There are few quite nice games for linux, also office programs, GIMP for graphics etc...

I recoment Debian becouse debian packages are really easy to use. Read about APT GET for debian. Its also one of the best distro for lerning of routing, config and maintance of apache, sql databases and so on....
 
Solution

jbw716

Estimable
Apr 26, 2014
13
0
4,560


I have heard about Debian and KDE. Everyone says that it is the most stable and pretty combination. I guess the main reason that I was going for Linux Mint was because it has a similar software center as Ubuntu has. I figured this would make obtaining and installing software a bit easier. Would I be wrong though?
 

jbw716

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Apr 26, 2014
13
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4,560


Also, to download Debian, I have to chose which architecture I have. I am unsure of this. My processor is an Intel i7-4770k.
 

jaml

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May 3, 2008
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Well it all depends on what You want to do with (in) linux. If You want to lern how to maintance server system (all kind of them), how linux work, what is routing / mac filtering / iptables / network i-faces, and so on... and in addition have perfect desktop with beautifull graphics... and updates almost all time (debian is considered as one of top safe systems) and lots of applications = imo: Debian is best 4U.

If You want only nice desktop and lern a little about linux apps then go for Mint.

Debian is not harder to understand or configure. They are similar. And keep in mind that debian is more up-to-date system and thanx to that You will get more safty updates, hardware drivers updates, its more configurable etc...
 

jbw716

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Apr 26, 2014
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4,560
I apologize for my obliveousness, as I am very technologically advanced as far as hardware and Windows, and am looking to expand my expertise, but have not had much experience at all with Linux.
 

jbw716

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Apr 26, 2014
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4,560
Alright! I'll definitely try Debian! I've always heard pretty good things about it, but have just been a little bit scared of it, but after what you have told me, I feel pretty comfortable with making the jump. And I guess if I do want to switch, I'll just back up my files to a separate drive.
 

dmroeder

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Jan 15, 2005
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By all means try Debian, but I think you are on the right track with Mint as a new user. Most everything that you want to do works right out of the box with Mint. To get the same functionality out of Debian you have to earn it. Mint is just plain easier to use for a new user. And Debian is not more up to date than Mint. I'd argue that Debian is more out of date than most distributions as their policy for supporting newer revisions is very strict due to their desire to release a stable base distribution. Mint will come with much newer features. Sure you can get them in Debian, but Mint will come with them out of the box.

For example KDE, Debian comes with 4.8 and Mint comes with 4.11. 4.8 is hard to look at after using 4.11. The Kernel that comes with Debian is something like 3.2 and Mint will come with 3.11. Mint has something like twice the software packages as Debian. I'm sure some could argue that Debian is more stable than Mint, but I have never had a stability issue with either of them. For my uses, Mint is just as stable.

I understand that Debian is the base for many distributions (including Mint via Ubuntu) and that all the features in Mint can be added to Debian, but if Mint comes with them then I'd just use Mint. For a good learning experience, us Debian do things like upgrade the Kernel, add updated software sources, hell install all of your software from source.
 

jbw716

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Apr 26, 2014
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4,560
So yeah... Just tried to boot Linux Mint 17 from a live USB and I just get a grey screen with a flashing cursor in the top left corner of the screen. I cannot find any (working) solution! I suppose I shall try Debian and hope that it will work.
 

dmroeder

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Jan 15, 2005
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Keep in mind that Mint 17 is a Release Candidate, not an official release (although it should work just fine). I'd stick with Mint 16 for now.

How exactly did you make the USB stick? You should use something like Universal USB Installer.

What exactly did the boot process look like? Did you see anything Mint related?
 

jbw716

Estimable
Apr 26, 2014
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4,560


I used Pen Drive USB Installer. I have used it before for Ubuntu and Mint 14 and it worked perfectly fine. It didn't work with Mint 16 either. The only Mint related thing I saw was the Mint menu with the countdown from 10.