[ubuntu-uk] killed box through /var :P

[Neil Greenwood]

2009/1/6 Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com>:
> 2009/1/6 Neil Greenwood <neil.greenwood.lug at gmail.com>:
>> You don't need the primary partition with Linux. You can make one
>> extended partition that fills the disk and then put all the logical
>> partitions in there for /, /home, swap, etc.
>>
>> Only Windows requires a primary partition, and it needs to be
>> bootable. Linux doesn't even need the boot flag.
>
> You don't /need/ it but there is no reason to avoid it. If you have
> only an extended partition on the drive, you lose the first couple of
> cylinders or so - dozens of meg on a modern drive, for no reason
> whatsoever.

Thanks! I didn't know this.

I only recently discovered (although it's obvious in hindsight) that
you didn't need a primary with Linux. Only took me 15 years...

>
> The "standard" layout is 1 primary + 1 extended containing logicals.
>
> On DOS-based OSs, there is good reason to use only logicals on all but
> the 1st drive, because it makes drive letter assignment by the OS.

I guess you meant "stops drive letter assignment by the OS."?
Otherwise you're missing something from that sentence :-)

Cofion,
Neil.