It's not wrong, as such, but simply not right. Since you're using btrfs, having a separate partition for home makes little sense. I, personally, also prefer using a swapfile to a swap partition, but that's potato/potato.
this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2023
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Also, if I don’t indicate a swap partition during install, would the OS use swap files automatically?
I think the last time I installed Mint (21.2) it DID create a swapfile. Don't use it, so commented that out in /ETC/FSTAB.
Thanks!
I don't know, haven't used Mint in a decade. It's not difficult to set it up, though.
Alright, but actually I don’t think I’m maximizing my use of btrfs. I only use btrfs because of its compatibility with Linux Mint’s Timeshift tool. Would you be implying if I used btrfs for the whole partition, I can reinstall / without overwriting /home?
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I'd use sister partitions for everything but swap, just use zram for swap, it's faster and doesn't need it's own separate partition
How do I set that up?
Boot from a live distro so you can modify your boot disk. Use the disk utility to create partitions. Copy the data to the relevant partitions ensuring to maintain file ownership and permissions. Modify fstab to mount the partitions at the designated locations in the filesystem.
I don't bother putting anything but /home on its own dedicated partition, but if you ask 10 people this question you'll get 12 opinions, so just do what feels right.
Thanks
Note: Create your partitions from your empty space. You may need to resize your existing partition to do this. But don't practice on your main drive.
This is a simple job, in that the steps are few, but it's something that causes catastrophic data loss if you get it wrong.
I'd recommend buying a cheap second drive, doesn't have to be big or even good. Partition it, mount it, make sure you can make the partitions automatically mount, teach yourself to copy data around, umount it and remount, make sure you got it right.
Just.. these are all very simple things. I wouldn't hesitate to repartition my own drives. But if you fuck it up you fuck it up good. Make sure you know the operations you're taking first. Measure twice, cut once, all that jazz.