Ubiquity - setting a separate /home by default

[Colin Watson]

On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 10:51:59PM +0100, Sam Tygier wrote:
> David Prieto wrote:
> > Some time ago, I posted this idea on Ubuntu Brainstorm, about the
> > possibility to use a separate /home folder by default on systems where,
> > depending on free disk space, it is considered advisable.
> 
> The main reason for a separate home seems to be so that you can do a
> clean install without loosing your documents.
> 
> Ubiquity can now install onto a partition that has an existing home
> directory without deleting it. It just removes the system directories.
> 
> A separate home adds the hassle of filling up one partition, but have
> lots of space on another.

This is indeed exactly the reason we haven't offered a prominent option
of a separate /home; our partition management tools just aren't smooth
enough to cope when (not if) people make the wrong choice for relative
sizes.

In fact, we implemented this option in Ubiquity as a response to the
common wish of using a separate /home file system; it just wasn't
exactly the response that had originally been asked for! However, I
think it will cause many fewer problems than a separate /home would.

Cheers,

-- 
Colin Watson                                       [cjwatson at ubuntu.com]