Can I get system update (synaptic) to use non-root filesystem?

[Chris G]

On Fri, Oct 02, 2009 at 06:28:37PM +0100, Mark Syms wrote:
> 
> >> Could you mount /var/cache/apt/archives onto the SD card so that the
> >> apt downloads would go there?  If you are so short of space that you
> >> have not room for the downloads however, will you have room to install
> >> the new stuff anyway?
> >> 
> > I'm not installing any new applications, only trying to apply the
> > recommended System Updates, so while things inevitably grow I wouldn't
> > expect to be using much more space after the upgrade.
> > 
> > System Update says it needs 450Mb or so to do the upgrade, since the
> > system only has 2Gb altogether that's very difficult to manage.
> > 
> Chris,
> 
> Placing /var/cache/apt/archives onto your SD card would be a very good
> start, I've done this on a number of systems (including an eeePC). Mount up
> the SD card some where temporary, mv the directory and then symlink it back
> into place. I assume with 20 years of experience this makes some sense to
> you. Also pruning your /var/logs directory before starting the upgrade to
> get rid of as much as possible is good.
> 
Thanks, just the sort of thing I wanted to know.

-- 
Chris Green