General Linux question about sharing a /home partition

sapper · 2011-01-23 02:48:58

I'm currently running Ubuntu on my laptop and wish to switch to Arch. I expect it to take some time and tinkering (one of the reasons I want to switch, actually) to get everything working to my satisfaction under Arch. For that reason, I'm not going to be getting rid of Ubuntu immediately as I will still need it for productivity in the interim. My main concern is whether sharing my current /home partition between two separate distros will have any foreseeable negative impact on either. I know Ubuntu has somewhat different ways of structuring things than "standard" GNU/Linux.

I suppose the alternative would be to make a new extended partition and put everything Arch in logical partitions within that.

Inxsible · 2011-01-23 05:39:32

I would normally keep my ubuntu (if I had one) partition(s) separate from the Arch partition(s). Just keeps it cleaner IMO. That is not to say that the same /home cannot be used across distros. People have done that before and it works just fine.

whitethorn · 2011-01-23 06:15:58

I currently share my /home, between arch and linux mint. I think the only thing you have to be careful about is not using the same username for both distros. That way you have a folder in /home for your ubuntu user where the configs and whatnot are stored in, and another folder for your arch user. Just be sure not to format the drive when setting up your partitions during the installation. Oh and before you do any of this make sure you have a backup of you data.

moetunes · 2011-01-23 09:09:07

Because Arch, generally, has newer versions of applications than Ubuntu there "might" be some conflict in the config files if you use the same user for both distros.

sapper · 2011-01-23 13:24:21

Thanks for the responses. I like the idea of using a different username - it's always the simple solutions that are the hardest to arrive at. It occurred to me later that I could keep the two entirely separate and just mount my Ubuntu /home separately in order to access the documents there that I needed (music, photos, etc.). Now I'm wondering why I thought I needed to share them in the first place.

And great avatar, Inxsible.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-01-23 02:48:58

General Linux question about sharing a /home partition

#2 2011-01-23 05:39:32

Re: General Linux question about sharing a /home partition

#3 2011-01-23 06:15:58

Re: General Linux question about sharing a /home partition

#4 2011-01-23 09:09:07

Re: General Linux question about sharing a /home partition

#5 2011-01-23 13:24:21

Re: General Linux question about sharing a /home partition

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