Let me throw my $.02 in FWIW...
First, the rule of thumb for swap space in most UNIX systems that
I've run into (which, compared to some of the folks on this list,
ain't many at all!) has been 2X-3X memory size. However, for the
past 18 months, I've been running my dual 333MHz PII system with
384 MB of memory with just 128MB of swap and I've never, ever seen
it used !! I do a lot of kernel builds, BTW. But, that's just one
possible usage, and I'm sure other folks have applications that
might demand more. I personally would recommend a minimum of 3X
if you have less than 128MB of memory, if you can swing it.
As for the actual partitioning, well, that's a question I'm facing
myself right now. I have finally, after months of cogitating, bought
myself an 18GB UW 10krpm drive. My thoughts, based on my personal
usage habits, are as follows:
1.) First partition - 990MB, MSDOS (WHAT? Is Bayard THAT crazy? No,
it's just that that's the only r/w filesystem common to Linux,
NT and MSDOS, and I still have an M$-based corporate
bureaucracy that I have to deal with for now...
2.) Second partition - 2GB or so, for / and /root->/home/root, including
/boot, /opt, /lib, /sbin.
3.) Third partition - 2 GB for /usr and maybe /var->/usr/var - I haven't
decided as my /var usage doesn't grow that heavily, unlike
many other folks.
4.) Fourth partition - 2 GB for /usr/src. If it gets full, then I'll
be forced to throw out last year's kernel trees :-). Or write
a tool to automatically discard unneeded architecture-specific
directories, since I don't have any SPARC or M68k hardware...
5.) Fifth partition - swap space, the final frontier.
6.) Sixth partition - reserved for future growth and/or Oracle.
One reason for this relatively high degree of splintering is that
it will make any fsck runs a bit faster. I recall at our installfest
a couple of years ago at CodeMeta that one poor bloke sat there for
over an hour watching fsck run on a 9GB partition. Not fun, IMNSHO...
I'll be installing WindozeNonTechnology on a separate disk altogether.
Once I get my Linux system fully reinstalled and running the way I
want to, and can bring home strangely formatted non-text documents
and read them properly under Star Office or WordPerfect, then I may
just blow NT away. (At the moment, my 1.8GB Linux partition is 80%
full, leaving me no room to install and use Star Office properly
and still have elbow room for untaring stuff I bring home, etc.).
In fact, I may be putting my swap space (~1GB) on a separate spindle
altogether for performance. I run SCSI exclusively (except for the
floppy).
Bayard
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Bayard R. Coolidge N1HO DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed are
Compaq Computer Corp. solely those of the author, and not
Nashua, New Hampshire, USA those of Compaq Computer Corporation
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (DEC '77-'98) or any other entity.
"Brake for Moose - It can save your life" - N.H. Fish & Game Dept.
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