Which LINUX should I use ?

[naveenchandran]

No kato.. Swap should be a separate partition

altough swapping to files is possible..
"Swapping to files is usually slower than swapping to a raw partition, so this is not the recommended permanent swapping technique. "


I think FC4 DVD has a bit more packages than of cd's....
AFA the installation either through CD ar DVD will be the same....

 

[kato]

So this means there will be a small partition of some MBs and will that be visible. And when i create a swap partition will it take the space from the space i kept for linux

 

[adi87]

Hey Buddy.go 4 SuSE 10 OSS.
Appearance wise, its better than FC 4...........

 

[mehulved]

kato as its been said swap will be a partition of 2x RAM. The space will be taken up from the unpartitioned space left by you.

 

[kato]

no what i meant to ask you was does that mean it will be another partition like hda1 or sumthing like that sort.

A thought can we have something like this as sticky here where newbies can ask about installation and which distro they should use

 

[desertwind]

Yes. it will be another partition.

I'm listing my partition table for a referance

Disk /dev/hda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 2611 20972826 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 2612 6527 31455270 83 Linux
/dev/hda3 6528 9138 20972857+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda4 9139 14593 43817287+ 5 Extended
/dev/hda5 9139 9329 1534176 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda6 9330 14593 42283048+ 83 Linux

Disk /dev/hdb: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdb1 1 2491 20008926 83 Linux
/dev/hdb2 2492 4982 20008957+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdb3 4983 9729 38130277+ 83 Linux

Look at /dev/hda5, thats my swap.

 

[mehulved]

Yes kato swap will be a different partition.
I have my swap partition on hda2, ubuntu on hda3 and gonna install gentoo on hda4.
You can also have different partitions for /boot,/home, etc.
It is advisable to have a different boot and home partitions.
I usually install many different distros so if I keep a home on a separate partition I can use it between all the distros. I use the same swap partition for ubuntu and gentoo.

 

[kato]

Oh i get what you say it means you access to same things from different distros

Thanks DW for the listing i get it now.

Now one last question(i guess) CAn i have only one swap partition for different distros

 

[ashu888ashu888]

startmenu wrote:

ashu , i am using fc4 quite recently iand will tell in simple approach . go to computer mamagement , delete the drive u wish to use for linux, it should be shown as free space green coloured . Then pop the cds and boot from them. Press Enter while asked for graphical install . Select correct language , keyboard and other options. When provided with
different types of install choose "custom install" as it will give u maximum freedom. Use automatic partition , check "remove all linux partitions" or "use existing free space". Beware , here dont select "delete all partitons" as it will eat your xp .
Or else if u choose custom partition with disk druid then in next box , click on free space , click new and create a /boot partition of 100 MB , all the file systems should be ext3 , click on rest free space , click new and create a swap partition , allocating double capacity of your RAM . If your ram is 256 MB then allocate the swap file system 512 MB . Then use the rest free space to create a / partition which is your root partition .
Next select the default boot OS , edit the names if u like . Chech Advanced boot options and let the boot loader reside in MBR . Next thing is to select the packages and then sit back and enjoy !! Ask for more . Will be delited to help.

Thanx for the detailed reply bro thanx alot.

1.) So i will hv to go to Computer Mgmt. >Storage> Disk Mgmt.>rt. click on the partition tat i want to delete(in this case my G: as its FAT 32 file system) Rite?

2.) Also , I guess while installing Linux, I will be given the option to change the file system (and format the new partition) wich Linux needs Rite?? (eg: ext3 as u guys said in this thread. )
Coz I knw tat wen i install WIN XP, i get option to either format the file system in NTFS or FAT32 so for Linux i will be getting the appropriate option?? (from the installation interface of Linux) Rite bro??


Cheers n e-peace......

 

[desertwind]

@kato: Yes, you can use the same swap for different distro's.

@ashu: Yes, you can choose the filesystem.

 

[mehulved]

kato you can use the swap for as many distros as you'd like. I used to use the same swap for three distros - knoppix, ubuntu and mandriva.

 

[ashu888ashu888]

Guys...

1.) I hv a huge data onto my G: (wich i wana make as a Linux Partition). The data is 13 GB, So how can i copy that data onto my other drive (except fo Copy and paste as it takes a lot of time to do that). Any other option??? Please help...

2.) I want my G: (wich is currently having a space of 49.4 GB to split into 3 partitions (after deleting all the contents tat it has) so that i can Install Linux in one of the partition.
So how can i make that? So that 49.4 GB (broken down into) = 10GB (for Linux) + 10GB (For Games) + Remaining GB for Miscellaneous/Softwares of XP... Please guide me on this.

3.) Is my assumption for the Linux partition (wich is 10 GB) correct?? or shud i giv it more space or less space??


Cheers n e-peace......

 

[kato]

Okay as i thought i have another question what is the difference between ext 2 and ext 3 file system..
I expect an anwser which is understandable by a newbie. Also which file system should i select for FC4 and Ubuntu.

 

[naveenchandran]

What is the difference between ext2 and ext3 filesystem?

Ext3 filesystem is essentially an ext2 filesystem except for the fact that Ext3 supports journaling for ext2. Ext3 has been structurally implemented same as ext2, i.e. The data structures are the same. This implies that a cleanly umounted Ext3 filesystem can be successfully mounted as ext2 filesystem and an ext2 filesystem can be successfully mounted as ext3 if it is journalled.

Ok. But what is journalling?

In earlier days (ext2), a sudden power failure or another such condition could leave the filesystem in an inconsistent state. So after every boot the fsck program was run for every uncleanly unmounted filesystem. This took very long. Ext3 avoids this time consuming task by letting check only the specific areas that were recently accessed or modified. For this a log is kept which is called Journal. This way filesystem checking time is drastically reduced.

*www.geocities.com/sunnylug/LinFAQs.html


I suggest you to go for the Reiser File System
*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReiserFS

 

[Satissh S]

And naveen, the red hot reiser4 is simply blazing fast.. Amidst all speculations that it's unstable, it's wonderfully stable and well.. blazing fast!!

 

[naveenchandran]

yes satya Reiser is really an excellent file system...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*www.namesys.com/v4/v4.html
*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reiser4

Reasons why Reiser4 is great for you:

* Reiser4 is the fastest filesystem, and here are the benchmarks.
* Reiser4 is an atomic filesystem, which means that your filesystem operations either entirely occur, or they entirely don't, and they don't corrupt due to half occuring. We do this without significant performance losses, because we invented algorithms to do it without copying the data twice.
* Reiser4 uses dancing trees, which obsolete the balanced tree algorithms used in databases (see farther down). This makes Reiser4 more space efficient than other filesystems because we squish small files together rather than wasting space due to block alignment like they do. It also means that Reiser4 scales better than any other filesystem. Do you want a million files in a directory, and want to create them fast? No problem.
* Reiser4 is based on plugins, which means that it will attract many outside contributors, and you'll be able to upgrade to their innovations without reformatting your disk. If you like to code, you'll really like plugins....
* Reiser4 is architected for military grade security. You'll find it is easy to audit the code, and that assertions guard the entrance to every function.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[ashu888ashu888]

All u experts of Linux, please reply to my confusion in the earlier reply.

Satissh S,Naveen please help me guys and enlighen me on the new topic of Linux.


Cheers n e-peace......

 

[naveenchandran]

HI ashu888ashu888

1.) I hv a huge data onto my G: (wich i wana make as a Linux Partition). The data is 13 GB, So how can i copy that data onto my other drive (except fo Copy and paste as it takes a lot of time to do that). Any other option??? Please help...

1.So now you have a G: Drive with a data of around 13 GB move it to some other drive. I think Cut n Paste[Move] would be faster than Copy.

2.) I want my G: (wich is currently having a space of 49.4 GB to split into 3 partitions (after deleting all the contents tat it has) so that i can Install Linux in one of the partition.
So how can i make that? So that 49.4 GB (broken down into) = 10GB (for Linux) + 10GB (For Games) + Remaining GB for Miscellaneous/Softwares of XP... Please guide me on this.

2. Now after the data Transfer to some other drive you have G: Empty...
To split it into 3 partitions.... Assuming you have Windows XP
Start->Run->diskmgmt.msc
Delete the G: Drive... Then you will have unallocated space created..
Right Click on unallocated space and create partitions [how much ever you want] by specifying the sizes...

Make sure you have atleast 10-12 GB of unallocated space for Linux

3.) Is my assumption for the Linux partition (wich is 10 GB) correct?? or shud i giv it more space or less space??

It Depends!
If you are going to do a full installation of say, Fedora Core 4.. You might need 4-5 GB minimum... a minimum installation does not require more than a few hundred megabytes.
There is nothing wrong if you are giving more space... even if you are not doing a full installation..
And while installing linux you also need to create a swap partition... normally 2xRAM Installed....

**::NC::**

 

[kato]

Everything fit in mind so is there a option in disk druid to make the drive to ReiserFS. If not then what should i do.

 

[Satissh S]

@naveen: I'am using without swap and even with 1GB of RAM i see severe drop in performance levels especially with XGL when simultaneously compiling softwares using emerge. Swap seems to actually help a lot, that's why my prof says paging is an important part of any OS!

@ashu: There are a few decisions for you to take. First tell me how much space you are going to allocate for linux, I'll suggest a good partitioning scheme for you. I'd strongly recommend that you install linux in your entire G:\ so that you can enjoy as well as learn it by playing. Digit has given a lot of softwares in the last years' anniversary issue as well as other times, which you can install and learn.
Disk Space won't limit you. You can play doom3-demo in linux and see how it works., given by di9it in november 2k4.
If you have Original Doom3 you can install it in linux and play and have the same fun.

@ karthik (kato): AFAIK There isn't much of a difference between the DVD and the CD's, besides why are you D/Ling them. I can send to you if you wish. Though i have only FC4 and not FC5 test 3.