[techtalk] Disk utilities under Linux

[Caitlyn M. Martin]

HI,
> 
> So, when upgrading to new versions of Linux, it can be done without updating
> the /home directory?

Absolutely.  /home is where user data goes.  None of the OS or application
code goes there unless, when installing individual apps later, you put it
there by *your* choice.  (StarOffice 5.1 was one exception.  It put stuff in
/home/<user name> by default, which I disliked intensely.  I don't know
about 5.2.)  In any case, you can, during every install I've seen, choose
which partitions to format and which not to.  If you back up your
application and shell config files (various files starting with a .), which
are the only thing that might get overwritten, your /home directory can be
preserved basically untouched during an upgrade or an install.

> Does /home never need updating?

Only when you update your data.  Think of it this way:  if you're running
Windows, you could create a shared directory called \home, right?  In it you
could have subdirectories for different users, right?  Now, if you put
things like word processing documents, spreadsheets, saved games in
progress, or whatever in there, why would you need to upgrade it?  See what
I mean?

> As you can see, I'm a 
> Linux newby (in fact, I'm not yet a newbe, more like a gonnabe).

Don't worry... we're friendly :)

Regards,
Caity

-- 
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Caitlyn M. Martin
caitlynmaire at earthlink.net
http://www.angelfire.com/nc/caitmartin
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