switching distros

[SYNass IT Ubuntu / Linux]

On Wed, 2008-04-30 at 22:24 -0400, Shannon McMackin wrote:
> Chris G wrote:
> > On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 03:18:21PM -0700, Pastor JW wrote:
> >> Back abit someone mentioned they had installed Ubuntu and there was something 
> >> to the effect of not seeing the users from a different (Mandriva I think) 
> >> distro.  I can't find the message although I KNOW I saved it!  Evidently they 
> >> had just formatted the system partition and installed Ubuntu and left the 
> >> user partition alone.
> > 
> > I *hope* you/they mean the /home partition and not the /usr partition,
> > it's the /home partition that has users' home directories (and
> > configuration) on it.
> > 
> > 
> >>                      Mention was made that the User ID number was different 
> >> (500 instead of 1000 or something like that).  Can this be done and perhaps 
> >> edit the User ID to fit the new system?  It would seem a much easier way to 
> >> go when upgrading to Ubuntu than having to start all over and re-setup your 
> >> environment from scratch!  I suppose it isn't possible since I'd actually 
> >> like to do it and really have not the time in my day to re-setup my working 
> >> environment!
> > 
> > It's perfectly possible, all you need to do is edit the /etc/passwd
> > file so that the user ID and group ID match those you see on the files
> > in the users' home directories in /home.  At least that's how I'd do
> > it (being a command line junkie).
> > 
> > Actually now I think about it you can probably do it when you add the
> > users to your new installation, depending on the tool/utility you use
> > to add them you may be able to set the user ID and group ID when you
> > create them.
> > 
> > Ask for more help if you don't understand what I'm on about, it's
> > always difficult to gauge how much someone knows.
> > 
> >>               One of my machines wouldn't upgrade to Mandriva 2008 so is 
> >> still a 2007 machine.  I thought I ought to just take it to Ubuntu like my 
> >> laptop is and maybe make it my office computer.
> >>
> > 
> I do this a lot, but don't care much for settings and such as much as I 
> care about data.
> 
> I've hopped around from Ubuntu to FC to RH and back and just save the 
> user directory under a different name like /home/(name)-old.  Then when 
> I have the new install up and running, I can see if my user environment 
> is the same in the new OS and just copy over everything and log out and 
> log back in.
> 
>  From distro to distro, you may have subtle differences that spew errors 
> when a simple file is not as it should be.  I suppose it depends on the 
> distros.  Not so bad from Debian to Ubuntu or FC to RH, but maybe more 
> an issue from OpenSUSE to Ubuntu.


Sometimes confusions are wo/manmade ! ;-D

One says "user partition" which exactly isn't exactly as said under
Linux !! ;-)
"user's data" are in/under /home with the user's (login) ID !!! ;-))

Using the expression "user partition"
misinterpretations/misunderstandings with /usr ...
... and even related to user too, causes confusions !! ;-(

Using the correct expressions and nomenclatures is important and 
we should keep these precisely ! ;-D

Cheers, svobi