Can you partition /home /usr and etc and then access from multiple Linux distro

[BK1]

I finally got my wife a new PC so now my Linux/98 box is all mine. I would like to try 2-3 Linux distros. Can I set up my partitions so I can install 2-3 distros and access the same /home /usr /etc partitions?
There may be a man page on this somewhere or a thread. Could someone please point me in the right direction? I currently have Mandrake 7.0 installed. I would like to install Storm and Debian, but would also like to keep Drake if possible.
Also, I just downloaded and installed Mozilla. It is great. Much faster than Netscape. If you haven't tried Mozilla, you should.

[rjakubin]

Sure, I've done it. BUT with these partitions only. /home /opt & /usr/local.
Seems the other partitions get jumbled up by other Distros. I also like booting into Linux from Dos using Loadlin.exe. It seems to co-exist with Windoze98 better. Although I haven't tryed GRUB yet. One day I'll get brave and try it. It's just that I hate to Re-Install WinCrap when it decides to play dirty and wants to be the only OS on MY computer.

[Tigger]

/home and /usr are fine but do not try to use /etc between distros. They all have unique scripts for system startup and will cause a problem if you try to mix them.

You might run into a problem if something that gets installed in /usr requires a version of some library that the distro doesn't have. In this case, the app will not work unless you upgrade the lib for the distro.

Otherwise, it should be fine.

BTW, even without sharing these directories, I have had the following on my PC at the same time http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/frown.gifon 2 2.5 gig drives)

Drive 1:
BeOS
QNX
Windows 98

Drive 2:
Redhat
Slackware
Storm

I also used a separate /boot partition on drive 2 that I copied all of the individual distros kernels to and maintained it in lilo with my slack partition. This is a little extra work because you have to manually move the kernels over and mount the other partitions and then edit lilo and re-run it to have a really nice boot menu.

It was worth the work. I will do this again when I get a bigger HD.

Good Luck!

[Shad]

The best partions to share as was mentioned before are swap /home /opt /usr/local /tmp


If you compile something that is dynamically linked to libraries in one distro, it might not work in others, just to make you aware. You might also run into minor problems like kde is the default for a user in Mandrake, but you don't have kde installed for Debian.

------------------
Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life

[BK1]

I got a copy of Storm Linux from Linux FORMAT magazine. It is supposed to be Debian based. I think I'll install that first, since I have an install disk. Any opinions...or safety briefings before I try this?

[BK1]

I got a copy of Storm Linux from Linux FORMAT magazine. It is supposed to be Debian based. I think I'll install that first, since I have an install disk. Any opinions...or safety briefings before I try this?

[LiNuts]

Drive 1:
BeOS
QNX
Windows 98

Drive 2:
Redhat
Slackware
Storm

Tigger, on an unrelated matter to this thread.
I have installed BeOs5 P.E. and cannot get my modem to connect, i have tried all the ppp scripts, and a few from Bebits.

I have a 56k v90 external VFD modem.
Any pointers on getting connected in BeOs would be appreciated.
Cheers http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif
LiNuts

[ph34r]

'course, if you have the hardware, VMware is great for this kinda thing. You don't wanna give up what you got, you wanna just check something new out, fire up a vmware machine and play with it for a bit. Like it? Consider doing a dual boot, and let it have its own / partition. Really like it and want to change? Back it all up, refdisk, make a /home partition up front, then make a / for it, and maybe save some space at the end for YALD.

[Tigger]

linuts - I can't help you out. I have a home lan with cable access so I don't use the modem for anything other faxing.

My guess is that the initialization string may not be correct. Total stab at it but this seemes to be a major issue with non-supported OS'. If it picks up the line and dials out, but just can't connect, then it might be either the init string or the pap or chap script that is causing it.

Sorry http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/frown.gif