Feature suggestions: optionally placing home folder into separate partition during ubuntu install

[Daniel Gross]

Hello,

I have finally taken the plunge and installed the latest Ubuntu instead
of Windows XP (while still running Windows xp in a VM).

It would be great if a tool existed that supports moving the home folder
from the "boot" partition to a "data" partition. Ideally, the tool would
support creating a data partition by resizing the boot partition, as
well as recommending a minimum size for the data partition based on the
size of the home folder.

Ideally, i think, such a setup could already be suggested during the
Ubuntu installation process. Perhaps, under an "advanced setup" heading
-- removing the need to move the home partition. 

The main benefit for such a setup, is that it allows reinstalling Ubuntu
without loosing the users data, which would be safely sitting in a
separate data partition. 

Also, during (re)installation, Ubuntu could recognize the existence of a
data partition that includes a home folder, and suggest configuring
itself accordingly. 

Taking this idea a step further, perhaps its possible to also preserve
the packages that were installed, so that these remain intact in the
data partition also. Perhaps a better name for the data partition could
be "User" partition, which includes all user configured, tailored,
created data. As opposed to the System partition which includes the base
OS only, and that can be reinstalled at will. 

thanks,

Daniel