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this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2024
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I am confusion. It seems like this wouldn't help much with distro-hopping at all. At least not the way I learned to reinstall OSes, i.e. keep
/homeand make sure to back up important config files you edited.hi confusion
wait so how do you 'keep home', im confused explain your process
Partitions.
Many distros will partition your disk as
/,/home, andswap.If you want to, when installing a different distro, you can manually format and install the system to
/and not format/homebut flag it to be mounted as home.This can cause issues with configuration files if you change to a distro that has older versions of some programs.
Oh it certainly can! I haven't done it like this in a long time. My hopping days are all but over and the main things I need to backup are music, photos, and books. As long as I have them on some external drive I just wipe it all and start over. Still, though, the option is there.
Upgrades/downgrades can always cause issues, but more often than not you're totally fine, especially during upgrades. I tend to declutter my home a little too. E.g. I keep the configurations for Firefox and Thunderbird but delete their cache, for Inkscape I may keep my custom palettes only. For a lot of Gnome tools, I just delete all the configuration, especially for stuff that I only use once a month. However, the major issue during that process for me is that accidents happen occasionally.
Typically you keep you /home on a separate drive or partition. Your /root and /swp are on others. When you install the new OS you do custom partitions and mount options install the OS on the root then mount /home to your home partition/drive.
You'll still have to install the applications again, but all of your configs and history is still there. It feels surreal the first time you do it.
Would it be possible just to copy /home to a separate drive and then point a fresh install to that location?
This is actually a great idea but I didn't separate my home when I installed my current distro
Yeah, you absolutely can mount a different path to /home with fstab after installation. How you decide to sort your files in /home (or have them sorted by automation) has zero influence on distro hopping.
Yes. If you copy
/hometo a completely different drive, do make sure to be intentional about access rights (i.e. in your new install, you want your files to belong to you again and you want scripts to still be executable; sorting this out after the fact is possible but can be time-consuming) and make sure to copy hidden files/directories (i.e..dotfiles, which is where user preferences for your apps are stored; if you want e.g. your Firefox bookmarks and tabs to remain with you, keep these files).Yeah I don't see why that wouldn't be possible