[vox-tech] Running Multiple Distros

[Peter Jay Salzman]

On Thu 30 Dec 04, 12:22 PM, Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> said:
> Quoting Robert G. Scofield (rscofield at afes.com):
> 
> > Is there anyway to install a new distro on /dev/hdb3 and have it use a
> > /home on /dev/hdb3?
> 
> You betcha.  Just assign the new distro's "/" (root directory)
> mountpoint to /dev/hdb3, and just avoid assigning mountpoint "home" to
> /dev/hdb7.  Then, /home will live within /dev/hdb3 by default, rather
> than being on a separate filesystem.
 
Exacly.  I suspect this is the sort of thing that may be more difficult to
explain in advance than it is to actually do.  The "solution" is as simple
as commenting out one line in /etc/fstab.

If you have any doubts, go ahead and install SuSE on your blank partition.
Try to get SuSE to mount /home on /dev/hdb3.  If you can't figure it out,
and SuSE *insists* on mounting /dev/hdb(whatever) as /home, no worries.
Post back, and the instructions on "fixing it" the way you want will be
very easy.

Essentially, /etc/fstab is a very important file.  You ask "how can I have
two home partitions on a single computer".  The answer is that /etc/fstab
tells the operating system about partitions.  Anything that /etc/fstab
doesn't tell the OS, the OS doesn't know about.  If you make no reference to
home on /dev/hdb7 in /etc/fstab for the new OS, the new OS won't even know
it exists.



BTW, if you wanted to try Debian, Debian lets you do whatever you want,
transparently and easily.  The downside is that the "Debian installer"  (the
one that comes with Debian) can be a little disconcerting if you're new to
all this "aych-dee-bee" stuff.  When I first saw the Sarge installer, those
little icons made me pause for a second.  ;)

Pete

-- 
The mathematics of physics has become ever more abstract, rather than more
complicated.  The mind of God appears to be abstract but not complicated.
He also appears to like group theory.  --  Tony Zee's "Fearful Symmetry"

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