/ almost out of space just after installation

[Chad Perrin]

On Thu, Oct 08, 2009 at 11:39:58PM -0700, Randi Harper wrote:
> 
> I was thinking that a more acceptable default layout (leaving swap at it's
> current default size) would be:
> 
> / = 1GB
> /var = 2GB
> /tmp = 2GB
> 
> One thing to remember is that these are just suggested defaults. Most
> experienced users are going to use a custom layout when setting up a new
> server, so the goal here is to have partition sizes that work for everyone
> else. Although FreeBSD does work on older hardware, I'd guess that most of
> the hardware it is being installed on now is less than 10 years old. The
> defaults we currently have in place are outdated. They are targeted more for
> older systems, perhaps because sysinstall hasn't been touched in quite a
> while.
> 
> I'm looking for community input on this, so feel free to pipe up with your
> $.02.

I think that's a great idea.  As you pointed out, the defaults should be
for most users, who don't really want to have to think about it, don't
really want to have to deal with shuffling partitions around, et cetera.
If you have an abnormal setup (say, a computer with a 2GB hard drive or
one with 8GB of RAM so you want 2GB of RAM dedicated to swap), you should
alter your partitioning scheme to suit.

Someone mentioned giving the `home` directory its own partition.  I think
a separate partition for /usr/home, mounted within /usr, is a great idea.
It would help substantially with system rebuilds, backups, and using
separate drives for `home`, because that's where the majority of the
stuff you want to keep between installs will reside.  Basically
everything else within /usr (with the possible exception of
/usr/local/etc) is just what happens when you install and configure your
system in the first place.

-- 
Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
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