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On Saturday 13 June 2009 15:02:26 AG wrote: |
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> Hello list |
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> |
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> I am currently running Debian Squeeze and am considering the feasibility |
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> of switching to Gentoo due to several issues I am experiencing with a |
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> new machine with a SATA HDD and a TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-H653Z which refuses |
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> to play audio CDs and pre-recorded DVDs. |
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> |
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> In any event, because I have loads of data on my /home partition, I'm |
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> curious about a few things, primarily what are the implications of |
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> dual-booting with Gentoo as my second OS, so that I can experience |
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> Gentoo without losing my data, etc. |
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|
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You have to ensure that the config files you have in your home directory are |
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compatible with both systems. If you have a directive in a file that works |
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correctly on one version and causes catastrophic failures if used on another, |
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you have to be sure you do not use the latter. |
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Luckily, this is exceptionally rare. |
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Unluckily, only a manual audit can find this out. |
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Luckily, we have this other grand idea called a backup :-) Just backup the dot |
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files. |
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As for data files, no need to worry. They will be just fine. |
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> How compatible are Gentoo and Debian in terms of using a shared /home |
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> directory - I am concerned about uid for the directory for instance |
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> which, if I changed it for Gentoo, may not work for Debian and vice versa. |
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Both use the same GNU tools to do stuff. Just ensure that your UID is the same |
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on both systems. "useradd -u" and "usermod -u" and "chown -R" are the tools |
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you need to do it right and/or correct any mistakes afterwards |
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In short, you have to do something spectacularly stupid (or act like a |
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clueless Windows user) or have monumental bad luck to actually successfully |
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break stuff here. |
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You might want to read wizard screens on automated installers too and make |
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sure you don't click the box that asks to |
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"create /home, delete and format it? (y/n)" |
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It's not likely you will make this error. As a Debian user, it is normally |
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safe to assume you can, in fact, read :-) |
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-- |
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alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com |
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