HD Install :: Why isn't the /home directory on my hard drive?

OK, I rebooted DSL with the live CD, pressed F2 at the splash screen, and entered the cheat code "dsl home=hda3". Now the home/dsl directory has appeared under /mnt/hda3.

I'm not sure what to do next.

In Linux systems in general, what exactly does the "/home" directory mean? In my brief experience as a Linux user, this is the first time I've ever used a frugal install and have always used the more conventional installation in the past (in which the distribution used one drive instead of two).

If you're using grub, why are you trying it with the livecd bootloader? See wiki page on cheatcodes. i.e. you'll probably want to edit /cdrom/boot/grub/menu.lst
After you set it, it should be automatic... no need to do anything else.

See the (Linux) FHS (Filesystem Hierarchy Standard) for more info. If you're more familiar with windows then this would be similar to the "Documents and Settings" folder with the exception of /root .

Quote (^thehatsrule^ @ May 26 2007,02:21)

< If you're using grub, why are you trying it with the livecd bootloader? See wiki page on cheatcodes. i.e. you'll probably want to edit /cdrom/boot/grub/menu.lst
After you set it, it should be automatic... no need to do anything else. >

Wouldn't the change be wiped out every time I upgrade my DSL frugal installation?

Quote

Wouldn't the change be wiped out every time I upgrade my DSL frugal installation?

Only if you install a boot loader every time you install DSL, which is unnecessary. The installer gives you the option of uprading, which as far as I know will simply overwrite the KNOPPIX file and kernel.

My opinion of the home directory:

$HOME (a.k.a. ~/, a.k.a /home/username) is one of the most useful features of a Linux system. Being a true mutli-user operating system, Linux must provide a way for each user to create a unique environment, and the home directory does this.

Nearly every user application looks first in this directory for configuration files which may customize the behavior of that application.

Those apps include Bash, which is the default shell, and xinit, which starts the X environment. Both of these applications will read certain files in /home/dsl when they start. The commands in those files can control everything from the look of your bash prompt, to any/all of your environment variables, to which programs are started automatically when you login or start x.
Anything that can be done manually from a terminal can be automated by adding commands to startup scripts in $HOME

original here.