[xubuntu-users] migrate to new system

[James Freer]

On Tue, 13 May 2014, Patrice ARNAL wrote:

>
> Le 13/05/2014 00:19, James Freer a écrit :
>> On Mon, 12 May 2014, Peter Flynn wrote:
>>> 
>>> Like Patrice, I keep my /home directory on a separate partition, so I do
>>> exactly as he describes. My /home/user contents is all on svn
>>> ...
>>> ///Peter
>> 
>> When I tried that I found that the hidden files were then retained which 
>> with a new release may not be what one wants (as I see it not being that IT 
>> savvy). I was wondering if having /home was better left on a 'system 
>> partition' and all the work files etc put on another (e.g. on my 500 gb 
>> disk, system partition 100gb and the rest 400gb). It means mounting that 
>> partition but does mean the system and config files are all in one place.
>> 
>> No one else has mentioned this so I am assuming I am wrong but I'd be 
>> grateful if someone could suggest the best two partition setup. I used to 
>> have two hard drives on my old machine - one system and the other files.
>> 
>> james
>> 
> I encountered the same problem : in my home directory there is a lot of 
> hidden files and directories that handles the user's preferences for 
> applications. These preferences are on a per-user basis and not system-wide. 
> Hence they should NOT be put on the system partition.
> Even on my laptop, I have several accounts : me, my wife, and some "demo" 
> accounts, with different settings.
>
> When upgrading to new version, some side effect may occur.
> BUT you have to take in account the pros/cons balance of keeping these 
> preferences :
>
> Mozilla Thunderbird/Firefox for instance check rather nicely these 
> differences and you can start the new system keeping all your settings, 
> favorites, mailboxes etc...
>
> Same thing for RapidPhoto Downloader and shotwell : a database of more than 
> 3000 photos is worth to be kept.
>
> The only bug I encountered was Stellarium that has an odd behavior due to the 
> upgrade. Removing the .stellarium directory and re-creating it solved the 
> issue.
>
> My opinion is that these hidden files ARE worth to be kept hence keeping the 
> /home folder on a separate disk/partition seems a good choice.
>
> From time to time, when doing MAJOR upgrades (Jumping from an old 11.4 to 
> 14.04 for instance) I renamed the user's home directory (patrice to 
> patrice.old) from the live cd before installation.
>
> After installation, I moved visible documents/folders to the new home folder 
> created by the installation, and I checked application by application which 
> hidden folders/files I should keep or re-build.
>
> Patrice

Thanks for explaining. As I am the only user of the PC I didn't quite have the 
right perpective. My thoughts were new install, clear out the detritis, and 
copy over required files from backup. e.g. I use Alpine remotely so I don't 
have email storage on the system.

james