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shwallace
November 13th, 2011, 08:57 PM
will it cause any problems using the same /home directory with ubuntu 10.04LTS and ubuntu 11/.10? I prefer to use the 10.04 LTS until I have to replace it and am trying to get used to the new interface.

Lars Noodén
November 13th, 2011, 08:59 PM
It will work fine. You can also get by with one swap partition shared between the two systems.

shwallace
November 13th, 2011, 09:30 PM
thanks for the info. didn't want to mess up my 10.04lts setup!

oldfred
November 13th, 2011, 09:39 PM
I prefer not to share /home. Software is designed to update to a newer version, so that should work without an issue. But then new settings from the new verisons may not be totally compatible with the old version.

Actually /home settings are very small so I split /home into /home which I keep inside (root) and copy some or most settings to my new install, but keep the user data in a separate partition which I mount & link into /home in each install.

I prefer a separate /data partition. Then you can easily share your data without having the conflict of the user settings in hidden files & folders. Works best if all installed systems are Debian based, see UID issues below.

The actual user settings are small. My /home is 1GB with about 3/4 of that as .wine with Picasa which I have not yet moved to my /data. Because /home is small I now keep it as part of / (root).
Then I can have a fully functioning system on one drive but have data linked in from other partitions on other drives.

Data can be shared without the possible conflicts of user settings being different in different versions. I only copy some settings from one install to the next, normally. But I have to separately back up /home and the /data partition. Also saves the error of reformating a /home partition accidentally. I never reformat my /data and just configure / for install.

Splitting home directory discussion:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1811198
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1734233&highlight=%2Fdata
Shared Data with Different operating systems, different uid and gid issues - Morbius1
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1675381

Lars Noodén
November 14th, 2011, 10:36 AM
Software is designed to update to a newer version, so that should work without an issue. But then new settings from the new verisons may not be totally compatible with the old version.

In such cases, the new version usually has a different name or location for the configuration file.

Azyx
November 14th, 2011, 12:15 PM
thanks for the info. didn't want to mess up my 10.04lts setup!

I have tried and with 8.04LTS and it don't work well, so look at oldfreds reply.

Thanx oldfred

Azyx
November 14th, 2011, 12:23 PM
In such cases, the new version usually has a different name or location for the configuration file.

Usually donẗ seems to be very trustworthy. It a bitch to downgrade.

Copper Bezel
November 14th, 2011, 01:09 PM
Yeah, I've had apps (Chrome, for instance) refuse to load settings from later versions. And between 10.04 and 11.10, you're probably looking at two incompatible sets of gconf keys in some areas. I'd have 10.04 own /home while the other install merely symlinks to Documents, Pictures, etc. and whichever specific config directories you know you can share between.