[clue-tech] same partition, multiple distros questions

[Collins Richey]

On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 10:36 PM, Mike Bean <beandaemon at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> So, I have a question for the group.  I've been thinking about partitioning,
> and experimenting on a desktop that doesn't have anything I'd consider
> valuable on it.  I got to trying this idea of sharing partitions ...

I've run multiple distros on my harddrive for years with few problems.
Here are the things to think about:

1) Don't even think about sharing anything but swap. All my distros
use the same swap, and that has never been problematic.

2) Create a separate data partition to hold your permanent data and
symlink this into each distro's /home directory. The /home needs to be
separate for each distro because of the various hidden files that are
release dependant (gnone, kde, etc.). Let me know if you need a howto.
By doing this, the desktop system will keep it's data in the right
place, and you can easily access your permanent data in the actual
shared data partition. Your vast collection of music, videos, etc. can
live here. You can keep shared databases (mysql, postgres, etc.) here,
but you have to be careful about versioning on the various distros to
avoid corrupting the data.

3) don't bother to separate / from anythings else - each distro in a
single partition.

4) The most frustrating thing is that only one of the distros can be
the controlling grub partition. The mbr will point to a single /boot
area. That means, when you upgrade a distro that is not the grub
controller, you will have to manually update the actual controlling
grub.conf (menu.lst)  each time a new kernel and its initrd changes on
one of the other distros. That's a SUPER pain in the rear. There's
also the recent problem of dealing with grub and/or grub2. The conf
has changed considerably.

Enjoy,

-- 
Collins Richey
     If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries
     of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.