Few newbie questions about linux partitioning/installation

[~It_is_Andrew~]

Hi,
I am trying out linux after few months again (had to deinstall because of lack of hdd space). I have a lil few questions (mostly regarding size of partitioning as i cant waste space.

1) what should be the size of /boot partition, 50 mb or 100 mb or inbetween? I will use NTLDR to refer to GRUB.

2) I have 512 mb sdram (32mb shared) ; what should be the ideal /swap size?

3) I have 5.85 GB in total for linux partition ( root & swap) ; will that be sufficient for FC5 or should i seriously get more space?

4)Any guide what should i choose in a custom install in general?

5)I will be trying out FC5 (last time with old releases it didnt supported ntfs-after kernel recompile read only & buggy... have things changed inbetween? )
Thanks.

[mehulved]

Originally Posted by ~It_is_Andrew~

Hi,
I am trying out linux after few months again (had to deinstall because of lack of hdd space). I have a lil few questions (mostly regarding size of partitioning as i cant waste space.

1) what should be the size of /boot partition, 50 mb or 100 mb or inbetween? I will use NTLDR to refer to GRUB.

Ideally speaking make a partition of about 100MB but really anything between 50 to 100 MB will do.

Originally Posted by ~It_is_Andrew~

2) I have 512 mb sdram (32mb shared) ; what should be the ideal /swap size?

Make a 1GB swap partition. Just go by the 2xRAM rule.

Originally Posted by ~It_is_Andrew~

3) I have 5.85 GB in total for linux partition ( root & swap) ; will that be sufficient for FC5 or should i seriously get more space?

IMO, atleast 10-12 GB is required if you want to make full use of Linux. But, nothing less than 8 GB should be given if you are going to use linux regularly.

Originally Posted by ~It_is_Andrew~

4)Any guide what should i choose in a custom install in general?

That really depends upon your needs and choice.

Originally Posted by ~It_is_Andrew~

5)I will be trying out FC5 (last time with old releases it didnt supported ntfs-after kernel recompile read only & buggy... have things changed inbetween? )
Thanks.

I don't really know much about FC, haven't used it extensively but things overall have improved, though write access on ntfs is still in beta and may take a while to become stable.

[praka123]

i'll try 2 answer 1 by 1:
1)/boot if 1 kernel u r using around ~50 MB is enough;some n00b's even dont try a /boot partn `/` is enough.
2)for 2.4 kernel double the size of ur RAM,for 2.6 series around 700 MB(my suggestion!).
3) that can be enough if u dont install those extra packages,games,devel tools etc and is not used often.for my install i have a 6GB root partn itself.
4)below link will be useful 2 u!
http://stanton-finley.net/fedora_cor...ion_notes.html
5)try FC5 if u love rpm.and ntfs read only is supported already before check atrpms.net for a ntfs-module matching ur kernel no.
But i'll suggest Debian Etch or Ubuntu dapper which are far superior due to dpkg pkg manager and now ubuntu supports ntfs read/write fast-try ntfs-3g.more try link below:
http://lunapark6.com/?p=1710

OK.Best of LUX