On Wednesday, March 31, 2004, at 11:06 AM, Harry D. Corsover wrote:
On Mar 30, 2004, at 5:53 PM, Hoju Dingo wrote:
I'm currently running OS X 10.2.6 on a Pismo/400Mhz/512MB/40GB with 5 partitions:
12GB main partition with OSX/OS9; 6GB partition with previous OSX version; 2 8GB partitions
for data and a 3GB partition for temporary stuff (now stuffed with music files!).
This situation seems to me to be a good argument for not using partitions. In my experience, I can never accurately anticipate the future need for space on a partition. I stopped using them a few years ago.
I'm using an Aluminum 15" PowerBook G4 with an 80GB hard drive, with 768 MB RAM. So far, I've put about 20 GB on it
Actually not a good argument for not using them, just one for good planning. Some of the benefits of using partitions
are to keep similar files on the same partition (e.g. user versus system files) and (if properly implemented) to
reduce the chances of overflowing the system disk (e.g. with large user video files). It doesn't stop the
problem of filling up the disk with swap files under OS X because /var/vm is presumably expected to be on the
system disk (which is pretty silly!). Backup/maitenance of the user/system area is much simpler and one can even
have separate partitions for separate systems. I keep two versions of the OS X system around
(25 years of computer programming have made me just a little cautious!). There are many e-tomes around that
debate the pros/cons of partitioning ... in my case it is partly a filing/maintenance function (seems neater!).
If I had multiple disks (less likely on a Pismo but possible in principle) one could delegate swap space to the
other disk (if OS X would allow it) and perhaps gain speed (but debatable since RAID might be a better option).
In my case 5 partitions is just enough for my use (it also makes take stock of disk usage before I really fill
things up! I feel while one can get by unpartitioned (1 partition) that at the very least 2 partitions are
much better (system+user space) and 3 partitions even better ( system+user+swap space). My paranoid behaviour
accounts for an extra partition for having a previous system around (in case current OS X is trashed or for
comparison purposes) and I also have an extra user space for (Unix type) programming oriented files versus the
user space for (Mac type) data files. I do know that if I used just one partition I would be less careful
with space and in backing up ... I can use all space, time that is allocated to me ... hence one of my
stints as a supercomputer jock. I'm very happy to have my own UNIX system with complete control over it!
Of course as per usual ... your mileage may vary!
Adios Harry.
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