Although OpenSuse is my principle OS, I also have others installed but at present, each OS installs the software I add to it’s own partition. This seems wasteful, because I wind up installing the same software multiple times.
How can I assure that OpenSuse installs the applications I add to a separate partition, shared by other Linux Distributions?
Thanks in advance,
dhinds
Hi
For example I use the same instance of crossover, NPRS etc on both SLED
and openSUSE from a separate partition. All I do is create softlinks in
the individual home partitions.
cxoffice -> /data2/configuration/cxoffice
..cxoffice -> /data2/configuration/cxoffice_bottles
For NPRS I use menu shortcuts to the file to start it.
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.4 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop
up 12:41, 4 users, load average: 0.15, 0.30, 0.27
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - Driver Version: 285.05.09
On 2011-10-18 23:26, dhinds wrote:
>
> Although OpenSuse is my principle OS, I also have others installed but
> at present, each OS installs the software I add to it’s own partition.
> This seems wasteful, because I wind up installing the same software
> multiple times.
>
> How can I assure that OpenSuse installs the applications I add to a
> separate partition, shared by other Linux Distributions?
Don’t do that. Each operating system needs to install its own software
separate, even if they seem the same programs.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
Could you explain that in a little more detail? What would happen if each OS wrote to the same applications partition, if the configurations were the same? (Otherwise, I have to do it over and over again).
–
Douglas Hinds
Gigabyte X58Au7 / Intel i7 920
8 Gb DDR3 RAM
CoolerMaster nVIDIA case
[QUOTE=malcolmlewis;2395045]Hi
For example I use the same instance of crossover, NPRS etc on both SLED
and openSUSE from a separate partition. All I do is create softlinks in
the individual home partitions.
cxoffice -> /data2/configuration/cxoffice
..cxoffice -> /data2/configuration/cxoffice_bottles
For NPRS I use menu shortcuts to the file to start it.
Thanks. I use EccoPro under Wine on all Linux Distros (OpenSuse, Mint LMDE, Sabayon and Peppermint and Ubuntu Netbook Edition on the ThinkPad X100e with not problems. All are modifying the same file installed to a NTFS partition.
What I don’t know how to do is get each OS to install added apps to a separate (and shared) partition. Any pointers?
TIA
If the configurations are the same, nothing. But what do you mean by “applications” partition? To me, it sounds like the /usr partitions. And you can not share this one for sure. As carlos said, even if the programs appear to be the same - and even if they have the same version - they can be linked to different versions of the libraries that were available at the time when the programs have been compiled under the different distros. They are of course things that can be shared, such as icons, templates, many user configurations, and things than can not be shared. If you’re talking about user configurations, they belong in the /home partition, not in the applications partition. You can share the /home partition between distros but better not the home directory. An option is to change the home base directory under each distro and symlink common data.
(My) example:
agnelo@uhura:~> echo $HOME
/home/openSUSE/agnelo
agnelo@uhura:~> readlink $HOME/doc
/home/agnelo/doc
agnelo@uhura:~> readlink $HOME/.wmbiffrc
/home/agnelo/.wmbiffrc
On 2011-10-19 01:56, dhinds wrote:
>> Don’t do that. Each operating system needs to install its own software
>> > separate, even if they seem the same programs.
> Could you explain that in a little more detail? What would happen if
> each OS wrote to the same applications partition, if the configurations
> were the same? (Otherwise, I have to do it over and over again).
Disaster.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
If you’re talking about distro’s “packages”, you can not. The files will be installed at the location specified in the packages, most of them under /usr, config files under /etc, libraries under /usr/lib or /usr/lib64 (and this might vary between distros), etc. If you compile the applications yourself, you could set the --prefix option to a directory (which could optionally be on a separate partition) and the files would be installed relative to this directory*. If you’re talking about Wine applications, you’re not talking about Linux applications. You can probably share them between different Linux distros.
On 2011-10-19 02:56, please try again wrote:
> As carlos said, even if the
> programs appear to be the same - and even if they have the same version
> - they can be linked to different versions of the libraries that were
> available at the time when the programs have been compiled under the
> different distros.
Different versions of libraries, programs, and compiled with different
options. No, sharing /usr is calling for disaster.
It is possible, though, to use a common partition with different
directories for each linux install; say usr_linux_one, usr_linux_two, etc.
Then the appropriate directory is either symlinked or mount bind. Or via
NFS, perhaps.
Each Linux install has to first mount the root, then the shared partition,
then bind mount only the appropriate directory into his own /usr.
Please note: if you are not able to understand and implement this brief
description on your own, I’m not going to explain it in detail. You have to
be able to make out the details yourself or else you will never be able to
maintain that nightmare on your own.
HTH 
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
Thanks to Carlos, Robin, Malcolm and please try again for your observations and recommendations. As a result, it has become clear that the same software can be integrated within different OS’s in different ways and therefore, I am going to have forgot this idea. You all have a real good day.