Arch Linux

maomao123

Member

Registered: 2014-05-24

Posts: 25

Two OSes, one filesystem

Hello,

I want to use arch alongside Ubuntu; I enjoy the stability and full-featuredness of Ubuntu and the configurability and bleeding-edge quality of arch. However, I do not wish to dual-boot in the traditional sense. I don't want to have to switch back and forth to look for files; I want to be able to see and work on the exact same files regardless of what operating system I happen to be in. I understand that I could make separate partitions for each OS then erect one that both can access but this retains the problem of a file possibly being restricted to one side, as well as duplicate Documents/Pictures/etc folders and unnecessarily duplicate config files in some cases. I believe it ought to suffice for both to share one root directory. How could I accomplish this?

jasonwryan

Anarchist

From: .nz

Registered: 2009-05-09

Posts: 30,426

Website

Re: Two OSes, one filesystem

I believe it ought to suffice for both to share one root directory. How could I accomplish this?

That's not going to work.

---

Arch + dwm   •   Mercurial repos  •   Surfraw

Registered Linux User #482438

stobbsm

Member

From: Calgary, AB

Registered: 2010-10-10

Posts: 61

Website

Re: Two OSes, one filesystem

I believe it ought to suffice for both to share one root directory. How could I accomplish this?

That's not going to work.

+1

The way the two distributions are designed would require they reside on separate file systems, or subvolumes at least in the case of btrfs. You could ATTEMPT (not recommended) to migrate your Ubuntu install to an LVM, and then use LVM to create a new volume for arch to reside on.

Otherwise, it's one partition each.

---

Running the lxqt-git repository. If you would like to help cover costs, consider using using my referral link to digital ocean for your next VPS deployment.
https://www.digitalocean.com/?refcode=13e0b40e4e39

drcouzelis

Member

From: Connecticut, USA

Registered: 2009-11-09

Posts: 4,092

Website

Re: Two OSes, one filesystem

I understand that I could make separate partitions for each OS then erect one that both can access but this retains the problem of a file possibly being restricted to one side, as well as duplicate Documents/Pictures/etc folders and unnecessarily duplicate config files in some cases.

Is that the only issue? That's easily resolved.

Create three partitions:

1. Arch Linux

2. Ubuntu

3. "/home" (mounted as "/home" for both operating systems)

Then create a user in both operating systems that have the same username and default group and UID (for example, "500"). ...I wish I could think of another step after that, but that's pretty much it! The two operating systems will now share a "/home/<username>" directory, and both with have the exact same permissions to all of your personal files.

Is that it?

EDIT: But keep in mind, you'll be sharing configuration files too. So, for example, if Ubuntu uses Firefox 29 and Arch Linux uses Firefox 31 things might get a little... weird.

Last edited by drcouzelis (2014-07-30 12:18:37)

maomao123

Member

Registered: 2014-05-24

Posts: 25

Re: Two OSes, one filesystem

Thank you for your responses.

@drcouzelis: Hmm, ok, that's interesting. I wasn't aware you could share part of the filesystem starting above root. That would solve my issue though! I already have Ubuntu installed and am using it right now. How would I go about migrating /home to a new partition?

tomk

Forum Fellow

From: Ireland

Registered: 2004-07-21

Posts: 9,839

Re: Two OSes, one filesystem

Read his suggestion again. You wouldn't be sharing part of a file system, you would be mounting a separate filesystem on a separate partition as /home under both OSes.

WorMzy

Administrator

From: Scotland

Registered: 2010-06-16

Posts: 12,603

Website

Re: Two OSes, one filesystem

Sharing a /home between two different Linux variants/installations is not a great idea. Unless you can keep app versions synced between them, it can lead to inconsistencies and other problems with your dotfiles.

---

Sakura:-
Mobo: MSI MAG X570S TORPEDO MAX // Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X @4.9GHz // GFX: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT // RAM: 32GB (4x 8GB) Corsair DDR4 (@ 3000MHz) // Storage: 1x 3TB HDD, 6x 1TB SSD, 2x 120GB SSD, 1x 275GB M2 SSD

Making lemonade from lemons since 2015.

alphaniner

Member

From: Ancapistan

Registered: 2010-07-12

Posts: 2,810

Re: Two OSes, one filesystem

I understand that I could make separate partitions for each OS then erect one that both can access but this retains the problem of a file possibly being restricted to one side, as well as duplicate Documents/Pictures/etc folders ...

Keep your data on a non-system fs/partition (eg. mounted at ~/data, /mnt/data, etc) and synchronize your uid and primary gid on both machines. Replace those folders (Documents, Pictures, etc.) with symlinks. It's that simple, unless one OS is using SELinux or some such.

... and unnecessarily duplicate config files in some cases.

You should still be able to 'share' config files on a case-by-case basis using symlinks.

---

But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.
-Lysander Spooner