[mythtv-users] Partitioning

[R. G. Newbury]

On 03/08/2010 01:50 AM, Nick Rout wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 8:57 AM, R. G. Newbury<newbury at mandamus.org>  wrote:
>> On 03/06/2010 02:01 PM, Christopher Meredith wrote:
>>>
>>> Why put / and /var on different partitions?
>>
>> This discussion has been aired on the list a couple of times in the last few
>> months.
>>
> No /var is for storage of highly variably sized data, like log files,
> database files (and recordings).
>
> However in myth it makes a LOT of sense to create a dedicated
> partition like /mythtv (see knoppmyth for example).

This is almost like 'vi vs emacs'! Although /var is intended for 
storage, it mixes things which we REALLY want to keep, with stuff which 
we don't necessarily NEED to. (And when I tried a dual boot setup with 
Ubuntu, Ubuntu's install wiped the /var partition even though I had not 
requested it to be formatted. There is a bit of a disjunct here.
>>
>> So, how to partition?
>> It is also useful to have a separate partition for
>> /usr/local,
>
> Why? Linux hardly uses /usr/local.

I use trunk SVN and install into /usr/local/. I keep all my own scripts 
in /usr/local/sbin. It's easy to have that on a separate space. Personal 
choice.

>> Symlink /tmp into /var/tmp.
>
> NO!! /tmp is for stuff that can be thrown away across reboots.
> /var/tmp is for temporary data that should survive reboots.

True. This is a 'horses for courses' choice. You can just as easily
leave /tmp under /. Same problem if there is a runaway logfile, or, as I 
once
did, you leave a 'cat /dev/video0 > /tmp/testvideo.mpg' instance running!

> you shouldn't need /etc/hosts to contain much if you have dns working.
> /etc/resolv.conf should be set on dhcp getting your dns settings.
> /etc/fstab is worth keeping IF you want to set up an identical system
> next time you reinstall.

Well I do not run an internal DNS server. I do use 'quasi-static' IP 
addresses for all of the other computing stuff around, fixing them by 
their MAC addresses. So /etc/hosts sets up parsing to recognize an ssh 
input from my laptop, my iphone, my wifes laptop, one of the 2 Nokia 
N810's and talk wirelessly to the Brother fax/printer, by IP address ( 
and the router too). The only real DHCP is external. resolv.conf is a 
nice place to store the DNS IP's of my ISP even though they are set in 
the router too.

fstab rarely ends up exactly the same for partitions, but it sure is 
useful to keep all of the exact settings for things like nfs, or even to 
have the special mount settings for an ssd etc.
In addition, keeping all of /etc means you have 
/etc/rc.d/init.d/mythbackend and lirc available, /etc/sysconfig ditto, 
lircd and lircrc and yum.repos.d (which may need a tweak or two.)
Sure saves retyping.

Geoff



-- 
         Please let me know if anything I say offends you.
          I may wish to offend you again in the future.

          Tux says: "Be regular. Eat cron flakes."