Re: [OT?] home partition vs. home directory
On Fri 30 Nov 2018 at 21:21:50 (-0500), Ric Moore wrote:
> On 11/30/18 8:45 PM, rhkramer@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Friday, November 30, 2018 08:32:23 PM Ric Moore wrote:
> > > Cindy, I advocate using /opt for that very reason. I leave /home/user
> > > alone. I create /opt/user directory and fill it with the usual
> > > /home/user directories, such as Documents, Downloads, Music, Videos and
> > > the like. Those directories contain ther actual files and are safe if
> > > root partition gets clobbered or the OS becomes too wonky from
> > > installing all the things. CLEAN re-install also cleans screwed up
> > > config files in the home dot-files/directories, that you really do not
> > > want to keep. . I've done this since the Caldera (pre-RedHAT IPO) era.
> > > "Nary a burp in the barrel." as they used to say in Popular Electronics.
> >
> > Why bother with /opt -- iirc, /opt is for optional software, not user data.
> >
> > I simply create a top level directory (often using my initials, e.g. /abc for
> > my user data (~/Documents, ~/Downloads, et al -- i.e., /abc/Documents, ...).
> >
> > /opt may get filled with stuff that I don't want to treat as (my) user data.
>
> True true, but you may select the /opt partition from the install menu
> and not re-format it. Once you boot into your fresh install, /opt is
> correctly mounted and by making the necessary links from /home/user to
> /opt/user you have a fully repopulated home directory. I also have
> .mozilla and .thunderbird down there for safe keeping as well. A fresh
> re-install is very painless. Been doing this successfully for almost
> 20 years. Ric
I just copy them all into ~/<release-name>.dotfiles/, which keeps them
within the encrypted fold. For programs that write a new set of
configuration files where none exists, I let them do that, and then
reapply my own modifications. Where I find incompatibilities, I use
scripts that juggle symlinks, eg mutt, mc, audacious etc.
In the case of the browser, I usually let the new version handle the
transition, and then I don't go back. I enforce that commitment by
having the browser-launching functions look up my permitted
release/hostname combinations in an environment variable.
Cheers,
David.
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