Date: Sat, 07 Jun 1997 22:21:52 +0200 From: Gerhard Sittig <G.Sittig@abo.freiepresse.de> To: FreeBSD-questions <FreeBSD-Questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: XFree86 and Partintioning questions Message-ID: <3399C2E0.60B@abo.freiepresse.de>
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Steve Howe wrote:
>
> On Fri, 6 Jun 1997, Alan Gaddis wrote:
>
> > Also, I was wondering if there is any way to install FreeBSD into a DOS
> > directory? I know you can with Linux, and I would rather not have to
> > repartition my hard drive.
>
> can't help with that one, although i think some people have used
> that Linux utility with FreeBSD. you really should re-partition,
> for several reasons - speed, security (data and otherwise), etc.
>
Reading the Linux doc for that kind of feature you'll notice the
primary reason: it's meant for DEMO mode and not for real systems
working with (whatever flavour of) UNIX regularly. A prerequisit
for "real" data in a DOS fs is the removal of it's stupid limits
(8.3 names, no ownership, almost no access control, regular files
and dirs only, HUGE clusters, and the like). The way Linux handles
this is using the umsdos fs -- "one way to make a boring fs become
a useful one". The additional layer above msdos (by means of a
config file in every directory called --linux.--- or so) means
some overhead and source of failures. And you always have to
"sync" the info (i.e. rebuild the non-DOS info) once you touched
the disk with DOS. And there are some DOS limitations you even
cannot get rid of by this method.
If you read that message this far, you might be sure that a DOS
filesystem is the wrong place for an operating system or it's
essential data (system's binaries and configuration). But for
exchanging data you can mount a DOS volume -- FAT ist the
language EVERY OS knows about.
BTW: Sometimes I'm missing vfat support (long filenames for
downloaded "package-version.tar.gz" and accompanying html docs.
The only reason for not wanting to partition a disk is
setting some fix borders for yourself. Having two systems
in one volume gives a chance for "shutteling" data in the
free space as it will grow and shrink (might be seen like
the way data and stack are growing towards from opposit
ends of memory).
partitions:
| DATA FROM SYSTEM ONE | DATA FROM SYSTEM TWO |
fix^
shared volume:
| DATA AT TIME 1 | DATA AT TIME 1 |
| DATA AT TIME 2 | DATA AT TIME 2 |
^ movable ^
--
virtually yours -- G.Sittig@abo.FreiePresse.DE
If you don't understand or are scared by any of the above
ask your parents or an adult to help you.
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