Re: [gentoo-user] separate / and /usr to require initramfs 2013-11-01

[Dale]

Tanstaafl wrote:
> On 2013-09-29 5:35 PM, Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com> wrote:
>> Tanstaafl wrote:
>>> Ok, but... everything I've read and personal experience over the years
>>> shows that space required for /usr should not change much, especially
>>> constantly grow over time (like requirements for /home can and will)-
>>> it may fluctuate (increase, decrease) *a little* over time, but it
>>> definitely should not grow substantially, so, if you had to resize it,
>>> most likely it is because you simply didn't allocate enough room to
>>> start with.
>
>> So my experience doesn't matter any then?
>
> Dale, that is NOT what I said, and nothing I am saying is intended to
> be offensive.
>
>> My /usr does vary and sometimes varies quite a bit.
>
> The question you should be asking yourself then, is WHY?

To me, it doesn't matter why it varies, it just does.  After each
update, I check to see what the partitions look like.  The biggest
change was going from KDE3 to KDE4.  That seemed to make things grow a
good bit.  Other things I install/uninstall seem to change things too.

>
>> That is why I had to resize the thing. Saying that I didn't make it
>> large enough to begin with isn't the point.
>
> It is precisely the point...
>
> The fact is, there is nothing in there that *should* vary much (once
> your system is fully installed) - unless you are using it in some
> non-standard way, and/or not occasionally cleaning out /usr/src (as
> Alan pointed out)... and if either of those is the case, then as I
> said, it is your own fault that you needed to resize it.
>
> Don't you see how contradictory it is to say that you will change from
> gentoo to distro-x because gentoo has made a change that requires you
> to either merge /usr into / or use an 'init thingy', when distro-x,
> that you say you will change to, USES AN INIT THINGY? Doesn't that
> sound irrational to you?

No, it doesn't.  On Gentoo, I HAVE to make the thing but don't know how
to fix it if it breaks.  On other distros, I don't have to make the
thing.  If it fails, at worst, I can reinstall in much less time than I
would spend trying to fix the silly thing.  Since I don't know how to
fix one and can't boot to get help, then the computer may as well be a
screen door on a submarine.  As I posted before, if something breaks and
I can't fix it, I replace it with something else that works.  That could
be why /usr varies so much too. 

>
> What would be logical and rational would be to either:
>
> a) learn how to use an init thingy (which from some more reading I've
> been doing, doesn't look quite as bad as it seemed initially), or
>
> b) determine what is a sane size for /usr, make / an appropriate size
> to subsume it, and merge it into /.
>
> Now, if you don't have enough room in / to merge it, then obviously it
> will be more painful, but once it is done, you never have to worry
> about it again - and no init thingy.

Actually, history proves that wrong too.  I started using LVM because I
got tired of having to rearrange my partitions and resize things.  That
was the whole reason I switched to LVM when I did.  Ask anyone on this
list that has been here long ehough.  I have had to move things around
LOTS of times because things grow including /usr and /var.  /home is a
different and unrelated thing.  Funny thing is, I did it several times
and never even posted about it. 

>
>> When people use LVM, the reason they use it is so that we can resize
>> things when needed.
>
> Yes, and I use LVM - but again, this is only important for dirs/mnt
> points that have the potential to consume more and more disk space...
> that potential is simply not there for (a properly configured and
> maintained) /usr...

See above. 

>
>> And what is rational for you, is not rational to me.  Since you can
>> dismiss mine, I can dismiss yours too.   Funny how that works huh?
>
> Yep... and you can also dismiss my claim that jumping off that 1,000'
> cliff won't result in you going splat, but it doesn't change the fact
> that if you jump off of it, you WILL go splat. I just wouldn't get the
> chance to say I told you so.
>
>

And what you are saying is not changing anything either.  I don't want
to mess with the init thingy.  If I do, first time it fails and a
solution isn't obvious, time to move on to something else.  I like my 16
year old washing machine and I have repaired things on it a few times. 
If it breaks and I can't fix it, time for a new washing machine.  Most
likely, a different brand and model too. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

-- 
I am only responsible for what I said ... Not for what you understood or how you interpreted my words!