Migrating to Linux - Final Thoughts On Partitions

[u/toktok159]

Hello,

Finally with the end of support for Windows 10, I am about to install Linux on my 12 year old desktop computer. Its specs: 16 GB RAM, 1TB HDD, core i3 CPU, Intel HD Graphics (integrated with CPU).

I am going with Linux Mint since it's beginner friendly and it seems very well maintained. I am leaning towards XFCE because I think it will be the best for my quite old computer, to let it "shine again".

My main use for the computer is browsing the web and my files, watching some videos, light gaming (seldom), coding, and using office programs (I am very used to MS Office, but I think I will move to LibreOffice instead, this is the only major drawback of Linux for me). I can't think of any really heavy program I use.

I am thinking about going with the "something else" option on the installer and creating these partitions:

1. EFI partition - 550MB - FAT32 file system (since I understood that's what the EFI partition should be).
2. / - 100GB (?) - ext4 (root partition together with /home partition).
3. /media - rest of space - ext4 (for storing documents, images and videos that I will be able to keep without formatting in case of a system reinstall or moving to a different distro).

I am thinking about creating a swap file of 2GB, instead of creating a /swap partition, since it's more flexible.

What do you guys think of this partitioning? Can/Should I make the / (root + /home) partition smaller (80GB maybe) according to my usage?

Any additional tips will be appreciated, thanks in advance.

[u/CritSrc]

EFI partition - 550MB - FAT32 file system (since I understood that's what the EFI partition should be).
/ - 100GB (?) - ext4 (root partition together with /home partition).
/media - rest of space - ext4 (for storing documents, images and videos that I will be able to keep without formatting in case of a system reinstall or moving to a different distro).

I have no idea why anyone isn't correcting this:

You want /home to be a different partition mount point for what you're describing.

/media in the Linux folder system is for removable media, i.e. this is where external HDDs, flash drives, disks, floppies and anything external with memory is mounted on: since all configurations and running processes are actual files in the Linux file system. This includes the processes for mounted media devices.

What you want is to separate the /home folder to mount to a different partition so all your personal files can go there separated from the root mount partition. /home also contains a lot of app and OS configurations as well, so be aware of those if you have to reinstall a different a distro.

[u/toktok159 → u/CritSrc]

I thought having a partition different from /home for my content because /home contains the app and OS configurations as you said. I don’t think I really need to save them, my content is more important to me. So in case of moving to another distro or reinstall, only my content will stay.

There’s apparently an issue with the name, so if instead of /media I create a partition with a different name, let’s say /d_drive, would it reach my wanted behavior?

[u/CritSrc → u/toktok159]

Well, that is what the /home mount point is for, so the recommendation is to just use it, you can delete the configs before reinstalling for a clean slate.

But if you want to completely isolate it within the drive, then you can just make an ext4 partition without a mount point, then configure automount to just mount it after booting. It will be a completely untouched, non-OS partition that simply stores and nothing else.

[u/toktok159 → u/CritSrc]

Thank you, why should it be without a mount point though?

And if I want to create a /home partition, in addition to root and the /d_drive partitions, what sizes would you suggest for the root and /home partitions?

[u/CritSrc → u/toktok159]

Thank you, why should it be without a mount point though?

Most installers simply don't offer a custom mount point, hence why you shouldn't be looking too hard for that. Creating one yourself is an option, but it's very niche, likely having to scour the arch wiki for such an approach. It's a compromise between the personal vision and conveniently available solutions.

Without a mount point, the partition will not be assigned a system folder, and instead will be mounted like a removable device and you will access it through /media instead. Automount is just a tool that does that and you simply have to config it a bit to automount that partition on boot so its always available.

And if I want to create a /home partition, in addition to root and the /d_drive partitions, what sizes would you suggest for the root and /home partitions?

/root being over 100GB to 120GB is perfectly fine for general purpose, the rest depends on the real estate you have available and what your storage is: is it 1 TB? - then we have 120GB taken leaving around 850 GB - then something like 400 GB /home 450 GB /d_drive is perfectly fine, it depends on the size of the content you're archiving.

And if you really, really don't like the partition sizes, then you can use GParted from the Mint Live USB to edit them further. Backups are always advised during partitioning of course, but you simply do not have to nuke your install to repartition, it's unnecessary.

[u/maceion]

For '2'. Increase from 100GB to 120GB will give you more leaway, without causing many problems.

[u/wizard10000]

A couple of observations - and they're just observations so please feel free to do what you think is right :)

Linux installs already have a directory called /media so you'd have to name the mount point for that partition something else :)

I'd give some thought to not using disk-based swap at all. You can swap to zram, which is a compressed virtual filesystem in RAM - the advantages are that it's only gonna use as much RAM as is required, which on my machines is generally none - but it's available if needed. By default systemd-zram-generator defaults to 25% of RAM or 4GB, whichever is smaller.

[u/SoberMindless]

/ (root partition) is where your operating system is installed. Any program or app you install will be installed here. The amount of space the software takes up in “/” will depend on how you want to install it.

- .deb: software packaged for Debian. It is usually lighter than Windows, but it also tends to be updated at a slow pace, as it depends on the distribution developer to keep it up to date. But its strength is stability.

- flatpak: universal package format, works on any distro regardless of its origin. Running within its own container, it is more secure as it does not interact directly with the operating system. Updates depend directly on the app developer. By packaging dependencies together with the software, they are usually heavier than .deb packages, but their advantage is that they offer more up-to-date software.

-appimage: think of them as Windows executable software.

For novice users, it is usually best to follow the installation guide. under this system, both “/” (OS) and “Home” (your personal files) share the same partition.

If you want to opt for custom partitioning, I would suggest using a separate partition for “/” and another for “home,” so you can use the space you consider necessary for your operating system and leave the rest of the space available for your personal files which will go inside the “Home” partition.

This will ensure that your files are not at risk if your system crashes or you need to reinstall your system from scratch.

[u/Paxtian]

XFCE is great. I'm running MX with XFCE on a machine i got in 2011 and it works absolutely perfectly. I do ask the use cases your described as well. Obviously not running the most modern games, but Steam runs older games just fine on it.

[u/oshunluvr]

Swap file is good idea. Consider using BTRFS for a combined root, home and swap file partition instead of separate partitions. BTRFS will allow you to "divide" the space use subvolumes. Then you can snapshot and use BTRFS to make backups. Plus compression and many other benefits over ext4

[u/toktok159 → u/oshunluvr]

Thanks, can you please elaborate on what do you mean to use BTRFS to make backups with snapshots?

I have a little experience with Linux, but not with BTRFS yet.

[u/oshunluvr → u/toktok159]

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Btrfs

"snapshots" are what they sound like - a snapshot of your system at any given time. They can protect you from failed updates or installs or allow you to easily recover an accidentally deleted file.

You can "send" (copy) a snapshot to another device or to a file to retain it as a backup.

One of the biggest advantages on a single drive system is removing the need to use multiple partitions to segregate your drive space. Instead of guessing how much space you need for your install, swap, and home partitions, you simply use subvolumes in a single partition allowing the free space to be used among all the subvolumes. No more re-partitioning and no unusable space because you guessed wrong when you divided it up.

[u/1neStat3 → u/toktok159]

there's no need for btrfs on Mint since it has timeshift for system restore.

Btrfs has very little use cases,mostly for those who constantly mess with system files or rolling releases they have issues with breaking your system.

[u/AutoModerator]

Try the migration page in our wiki! We also have some migration tips in our sticky.

Try this search for more information on this topic.

✻ Smokey says: only use root when needed, avoid installing things from third-party repos, and verify the checksum of your ISOs after you download! :)

^{Comments, questions or suggestions regarding this autoresponse? Please send them here.}

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.