/home, /usr/local, / and /whatelse?
Thanks to pointers from replies to my earlier messages about
"dselect", I now understand how to install software on Debian. The
key is to use "dpkg" and install things without the whole "dselect"
rigamarole.
The biggest discovery I've made is the "list of packages" on the
Debian web site. That lets you point and click your way through all
the packages you think you want and examine their dependancies. That
makes "dpkg" a piece of cake (once I read the FAQ, of course -
amazing how much that helps ;-).
As soon as I get my hands on a Debian 1.2.8 CD distribution (has
anyone used the "Greenbush" service? 18 bucks for three monthly 2-CD
sets seems like a bargain) I'm ready to install Linux "for real" and
start using it.
I've read "The Linux Partition mini-HOWTO", which is excellent but
mostly covers stuff in detail that I already knew at least in a
general sense. What I need to know is the canonical set of mount
points or file systems or whatever they're called. In the past, Unix
systems I've used have been pretty monolithic - everything in one or
two partitions (plus swap). This may not be optimum. In particular, I
see references to /usr/local (whatever that is) and /home (that one
I'm familiar with from workstations I used years ago) being on their
own partitions - separate from the root and swap partitions.
Is there a "HOWTO" or something that outlines the current
conventional wisdom about partitions? If not, can somebody clue me in
as to what /usr/local and so forth are used for and why they might be
separate. It seems like it may have something to do with sofware that
you keep up to date with the Debian package system (most everything I
need) as opposed to stuff you compile yourself since it isn't
available in a ".deb" package (at least a couple things I know I'll
need fall in this category). I don't want a dozen partitions
(wouldn't fit on my one 3.2GB disk anyway) but I also don't want to
combine stuff that is hard to sort out later.
-------------
Brent Hutto
Hutto@IBM.Net
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