Re: Are the assigned capacities sufficient for my setup?
On Wednesday, July 29, 2020 07:35:16 AM Dan Ritter wrote:
> gajuph4pre@yahoo.com wrote:
> > Hello Dan,
> >
> > You wrote: / will have everything in it except your personal data; /var,
> > /srv, and so forth all fall under it.
> >
> > Sorry for the noob question but what does /home contain?
>
> That's where each user's personal data is stored, and if you
> open a terminal, the default first location:
> /home/gajuph4pre, /home/dsr, etc.
I'll mention one of my personal prejudices:
You home directory, which might be /home/gajuph4pre (aside: I'd suggest you
pick a shorter user name just to minimize typing) contains at least two types
of data, maybe even 3, but I'd have to remind myself of the third):
* what I think Dan is calling your application data (but which I tend to
call "real user data", things that in Windows (and Debian) you'd find in
directories like Documents, Photos, ... These will be visible directories and
files.
* (personal) application configuration data -- in general, settings (in
files) you've made or changed for applications to make them work slightly
differently than the normal settings (that's not a good description, but it's
what I can think of atm). These directories and files are not visible, they
are described as hidden, and the way files are hidden in linux is by prefixing
the file name (or the directory name) with a period.
(Aside: If a directory is hidden (prefixed with a period) all the files and
(sub)directories below that directory are hidden (by virtue of the containing
directory being hidden).
I find that confusing and hazardous (I made a mistake once that lost all my
"real user data"). Most people seem to avoid mistakes like that, but I moved
(and keep) all my "real user data" under visible top-level directories, for
example:
Your home directory might be /home/gajuph4pre. By default, your configuration
settings go there (and I found it hard to change all of those defaults).
I would create a top level directory named /gajuph4pre and store all my "real
user data" there. You do have to change some settings (or move directories)
in various locations to first put the folders like Documents, Photos, etc.
there and then change defaults in various applications to save their "real
user data" (e.g., documents that I create, photos I take (or download), ...)
to that directory.
Back in the day, there were some applications (generally really low level
stuff, maybe some editors that ran from the CLI that I could not find the way to
(easily) change the default storage location.
I guess I should say that this works well for me as a single user. On a
multi-user machine with lots of users, you might proliferate a lot of top
level directories, and possibly even interfere with some "system" directores
(e.g., users named var, usr, dev or such would need special considerations).
Still I feel much more comfortable this way.
(Aside: I also felt like a 2nd class citizen when my top level directory was
like /home/gajuph4pre instead of like /gajuph4pre ;-)
I guess I should mention that using /home/gajuph4pre does have some
advantages, and I won't think of or mention them all here -- one is the
shortcuts to refer to your home directory from the CLI, e.g., like ~.
The third category of data, I might as well try to suss this out (at least
thinking out loud in words) -- some applications create things like indexes
and such for various reasons -- at least some of these (for a specific user)
are stored as hidden files or directories under you home directory.
I don't worry about losing those, because, if I did delete or corrupt them
somehow, they are easily recreated -- most often the applications themselves
will recreate them if they are missing (or note if they are corrupted or not
complete and often give you an option to regenerate them).
The configuration settings in ~ are certainly important and can be a pain to
recreate if you lose them, but, on the other hand, if you upgrade to a new
version of Debian ("in place") some of those settings will be either
inapplicable or counter productive. When I switch to a new distro, I prefer
to try it with the default configurations, and then make changes when I run
into problems.
Because you are a newbie, the idea of a separate top level /gajuph4pre
directory is probably more complication than it is worth. Something to keep
in mind for the future, maybe.
Oh, maybe to state my objection to mixing all those types of data in one
directory, with one (or two) of those types being invisible (normally) more
clearly, it just seems like a recipe for disaster (and I managed to follow it
once, but avoided it ever since by creating a new top level directory as
described (looking for some wood to knock on)).
<darn I meant to say something else, but the train left the station>
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