How to install antiX and MX Linux to share the same /home partition

[Member Bradypus]

Hello, there!

I would like to install both antiX and MX Linux on the same machine, side by side, but sharing the same /home partition.

This comes mostly out of curiosity, but I also think it would be pretty cool to have all settings synced in both distros, as well as browsing history, favourites, etc. (So I really want to try out having the same partition shared. I know it would be easier to use symlinks.

I am aware that I’ll need to keep all software updated in both systems and I intend to have the same set of software installed in both as well. I believe/hope/expect that having both distros being based on Debian Stable might make things easier. Also, antiX and MX have a lot in common, including (as it seems) some developers.

My intention is to try this out on an older machine (Dell Vostro 1000, 4GB DDR RAM, 320GB HD) and, if it works out well, I would love to have this on my main machine, that I use to work.

Now, how should I proceed to try this? Is the order in which I install the distros relevant? How can I set the same /home partition to bot distros? should I have a separate /boot partition?

Thank you for any help on this.

All the best!

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I'm not from where I am

[Member delix02]

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https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/6344/different-linux-distros-sharing-the-same-home-folder

modify /etc/fstab to your needs

Good luck !

[Forum Admin dolphin_oracle]

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the installer on antiX and MX is the same, and both support an existing home partition. So I think you could create one on say, antiX and then use that same home for MX.

I use a slightly alternate system. I symlink my data folders to a third “data” partition and leave the MX and antiX home folders on the respective system’s root partition. But application settings are not sync’d this way. You could sync the browser by symlinking (or maybe bind mounting) the “.mozilla” folder if you wished.

[Anonymous]

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~/.mozilla
~/.cache/mozilla

It’s probably advisable to treat them as a pair. Otherwise, due to mismatched timestamps, the browser’s SessionManager may complain that the “startup cache” files are corrupt.

[Anonymous]

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… and, if it works out well …

Only if you’re 100,001 % blind. 😉

(I’d be worried about gtk2/gtk3 settings.)

[Member Bradypus]

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delix02 wrote:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/6344/different-linux-distros-sharing-the-same-home-folder

modify /etc/fstab to your needs

Good luck !

Thanks, that’s really helpful.
I’ll have to learn how to work with fstab, but learning is really the fun part.

dolphin_oracle wrote:

the installer on antiX and MX is the same, and both support an existing home partition. So I think you could create one on say, antiX and then use that same home for MX.

I use a slightly alternate system. I symlink my data folders to a third “data” partition and leave the MX and antiX home folders on the respective system’s root partition. But application settings are not sync’d this way. You could sync the browser by symlinking (or maybe bind mounting) the “.mozilla” folder if you wished.

Oh, that’s cool! Thank you! I hadn’t thought of symlinking the .config folders. I may try that, especially, if making the necessary arrangements to share the /home partition ends up being too far beyond my scarce abilities.

Anonymous wrote:

~/.mozilla
~/.cache/mozilla

It’s probably advisable to treat them as a pair. Otherwise, due to mismatched timestamps, the browser’s SessionManager may complain that the “startup cache” files are corrupt.

Thanks, that’s something else to keep in mind.

Anonymous wrote:

(I’d be worried about gtk2/gtk3 settings.)

Well, I hope that’s not an issue (or at least not a big one). I guess that’s something that can make the whole thing unfeasible or, at least, not worth the hassle.

In any case, I can always use a separate /data partition.

Thank you guys, I’ll probably try a shot at this sometime next week and will post the result here, in case someone else may want to try this in the future.

All the best!

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I'm not from where I am

[Member Bradypus]

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Hey, y’all!

Just for an update.

I followed your suggestions and installed antiX first and then MX, and it works like a charm, sweet and smooth. There was no need to tinker with etc/fstab (so far, at least, but I think any problem would have already been evident) and all I have to do is be careful not to delete anything in one distro that’s relevant for the other. I’m saving most current work in a folder in the Desktop, instead of on the Desktop itself, and this makes things a lot easier to manage, in humanware terms.

So far, it’s a great experience that I really recommend, even if only as an experiment.

Thank you for the tips and all the encouragement.

All the best!

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I'm not from where I am

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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Hi Bradypus!

I’m glad that you found something that works for you.

I’d like to weigh in with a voice of someone who has experimented quite a bit over the years, at times deliberately trying to break things, and at other times, just seeing what I can get away with. For a person who creates, modifies, and experiments with a LOT of different distributions, both on the same computer and on many different computers over the years, my preferred practice has been to keep distinct partitions and information on each system and copy things I want to use and reuse between the systems. I also copy things in many ways. Sometimes I simply mount multiple distributions on the same hardware and copy the contents between file systems on different partitions; I also save things and copy them on “cloud-based” network storage, and I copy things to removable devices. By using all three methods, plus keeping removable media – CDs, DVDs, and USB devices, I’ve always had multiple sources from which to either build a system, recover from a failure, or copy information. No one failure, even being off-line, away from home, etc. prevents me from using information unless I fail to bring media or access to networks or media with me and even that difficulty is temporary. This multi-media, multi device strategy has always works and gives me access even if a particular computer breaks down or becomes unavailable. Such redundancy may not be available to everyone, but I recommend copying information in more than one way for those who are able to do this and know how to do it.

Best wishes and success to all.

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Brian Masinick

[Member seaken64]

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I’m all for experimenting. I do that also. But what would happen if you crash the antiX system? Would that also mangle your settings for use with MX? And if you do a dist-upgrade and say “yes” to updated config files will that cause problems? I know antiX does not use XFCE by default nor does MX use IceWm or Fluxbox by default, but I wonder about other config files being dependent on each system behaving so as not to affect the other.

I use Chrome to sync everything so I can get the same browser experience no matter what system I am on. I think Firefox does that also. And I keep active files in the cloud rather than in my /home folder (or I just use a USB key). And I use remote desktop a lot and just log in to my main desktop at work. I can do that from MX, antiX, or Xubuntu, whatever.

Seaken64

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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Chrome does a good job of making browsing history available for use in any environment. I use it across phone, Chromebook and computers with success. Other browsers can also do the same, depending on the capability of the browser.

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Brian Masinick

[Author]

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