Re: Installation
"Weaver" <weaver@riseup.net> writes:
> On Thu, September 13, 2012 5:26 pm, lee wrote:
>>
>> You cannot determine the size of the /home partition by the size of
>> another storage device that may be installed or not, now or in the
>> future.
>
> GParted can.
,----
| lee@yun:~$ apt-cache show gparted
| Package: gparted
| Version: 0.12.1-1
| [...]
| GParted uses libparted to detect and manipulate devices and partition
| tables while several (optional) filesystem tools provide support for
| filesystems not included in libparted.
`----
I very much doubt that this works with devices that aren't currently
installed or with partition tables on devices that might be installed in
the future.
>> Do you expect users to re-size their /home partitions for flexibility?
>
> They will not be performing this operation immediately.
That doesn't matter. You suggested a separate /home partition, claiming
the option provides more flexibility. Whether it does that or not
depends on a lot of factors you haven't mentioned and probably haven't
thought about.
>> Do you seriously want the clueless user to lose their data as a pleasant
>> learning experience rather than advising them well so data loss might be
>> prevented?
>
> They cannot absorb all the knowledge in all the documentation by printing
> it out and swallowing it.
> I appreciate that these things have to become familiar, but wouldn't that
> be better after the installation?
No, people would be better advised learning about partitioning before
they use the Debian installer to install Debian on their computer, with
some exceptions to that, like installing in a VM running under the OS
they are currently using.
>> You could also suggest using only half of the available disk space in
>> some configurations so that the user can use it to make backups when
>> they find out that they need a different partitioning.
>
> And if the drive only has enough space in the first place?
Then that won't work.
> Just install, then buy an external drive.
And then start all over again?
> Cheap enough these days.
They are not cheap enough. Hard disks still cost twice of what they did
shortly after I bought some last time. You could get a WD20EARS for EUR
65, and now a 2TB disk costs about EUR 99--130 :(
You'd buy 3TB disks now. You need 4 of them because you want a
RAID-10. That's about EUR 520, i. e. about US$ 670. I don't call that
cheap (enough). Even if it was only 1/2 that, it would still be a lot
of money.
> I'm looking at buying an external WD 1.5 TB for $99.
That would be too small for me; even a single backup wouldn't fit on
that. BTW, don't buy it. Get a *good* external case with sufficient
cooling and a disk to put into it. Don't buy one you cannot open
without breaking it.
> First the installation.
> After that the next rung.
First jump out of the plane, after that figure out where and how to get
a parachute. No thanks, that's not the way I do things and not
something I would recommend.
--
Debian testing amd64
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