One or Four?

[Devin Teske]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org [mailto:owner-freebsd-
> questions at freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Jerry McAllister
> Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 2:53 PM
> To: Polytropon
> Cc: david.robison at fisglobal.com; freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
> Subject: Re: One or Four?
> 
> >
> > > Let the majority decide which layout is preferred for the default.
> >
> > Why not add a selection to the installer, something like
> > this:
> >
> > 	Partition scheme
> > 	----------------
> >
> > 	[ ] all in one + swap
> > 	    Create one partition containing all subtrees
> > 	    plus one swap partition.
> >
> > 	[ ] separate partitioning + swap
> > 	    Create /, /var, /tmp and /usr (including home)
> > 	    partitions plus one swap partition.
> >
> > 	[ ] user-defined
> > 	    Make your own partitioning selection manually.
> >
> > Of course, the default SIZES for second choice should be
> > reasonable.
> >
> 
> Yes.  Yes.   This is the way to go.
> 

I'd agree, but I'd like to envision a modular approach where multiple schemes
can be maintained.

E.g. a menu containing...

"Scheme 1: / + swap + /tmp"
"Scheme 2: / + swap + /tmp + /var"
"Scheme 3: / + swap + /tmp + /var + /usr"
"Scheme 4: / + swap + /tmp + /var + /usr + /home"

NOTE: See what I did there? There is no option for "/ ", explanation below.

I'm actually thinking that "not having a separate /tmp" is:

a. A security issue

/tmp is by-default out-of-the-box world-writable (perms 1777). Making this
world-writable bucket part of "/" seems silly both for Desktops and Servers
alike.

b. A nuisance

As "Da Rock" points out, ... recovering your system from a
file-system-full-event when using "single-/" is just as difficult regardless of
Desktop versus Server. Having "/tmp" alleviates the difficulty.


c. A performance issue

I'm surprised nobody has pointed out the physical performance limitations of
rotating disks with respect to physical location of partitions on the spindle.
Granted, seek times are light years beyond what they used to be, but allocating
smaller "swap" and "tmp" partitions close to the center of the spindle is a
performance-enhancing setup just as much as it is for protecting against
file-system-full problems (security events included).

===

I'd argue that there should never be a single-"/" unless you are prepared to
deal with a truly 100%-full filesystem problem (especially considering that
Desktop users whom select the default-everything are often not skilled enough to
deal with that situation). If someone truly wants a single "/" and nothing else,
there's manual partitioning (which should prove pretty easy in the event that
you're only creating one partition and nothing else).
-- 
Devin

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