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There are several reasons on any system for having separate partitions. One is that sometimes things go amok and a file system fills up. Having separate file systems constrains the damage and makes it easier to recover. Second (and a very important one that many users don't pay much attention to) it facilitates backups. Things which change infrequently, or aren't that critical, do not need to be backed up frequently. Data and programs which can be reinstalled do not need as frequent backups as working space such as home directories, etc. It is generally easier to install from a backup than from source cds. It is easy to forget the solutions taht needed to be found when doing the original install. One way to back files up from user error is to tar them to another disk partition which is only mounted while doing the tar. Files on an unmounted partition are fairly safe from user error. Of course they are subject to disk failure! While it is possible to have swap files on any partition, one is less prone to errors if the swap is to a separate partition and, thus, out of mind. If one has simply a single partition, then it is generally painful to back up and thus the backup is not done, or not done as often as is desirable. Don Troxel troxel at mit.edu - Subcription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with "subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" on the first line of the message body to discuss-request at blu.org (Subject line is ignored).
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