personal directories on dsl

Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: personal directories on dsl
started by: lovdsl

Posted by lovdsl on Mar. 04 2006,03:44

Ok..I made several directories on dsl at /home..I have /home/dsl/downloads.../home/media..home/working...home/inbox..these are collecting files..wallpaper..test text..dsl extensions..This is great..but
are my directories ok in these locations?..
Is it ok to add files to fluxbox backgrounds at will
Can I copy a style from the flux style folder and change it rename and put it back and have cutom menu?

I have a second partition now for an archive of downloads but would like to keep the directories on primary..less superuser req..do not want to mess up the file system if it does not like adds..but wallpaper adds seems to work..I'm guessing just do not delete anything I didn't add myself..da but wonder about file size limitations and stuff...any tidbits would be a help..want to tweak the tweakable and stay clear the do not touch

Posted by mikshaw on Mar. 04 2006,04:19

I'm not sure exactly what you're saying, with all the fragmented sentences.

As far as I see it, there's little reason to make multiple directories in /home. Why not put these directories in /home/dsl?

Since you have a second partition, you might consider using a persistent home on that partition. It will let you make any changes you want to your personal configs and they will persist after a reboot without the need to backup/restore.

Posted by lovdsl on Mar. 04 2006,06:00

Sorry..will try to clarify...I would like to add directorys for various things..ie:
downloads go in the downloads directory
pics and pdf go in media directory
files being split for backup or pics being modified go in working directory..

in windows I would not fill the system folder with pics and downloads and text files..but would add snd files to windows media folder and files to mydocuments or a folder I created

so wondering if personal directories in dsl should be in ./ or home or home/dsl..
I have had issues with beaver each time I install..sometimes it will save to /home/inbox and sometimes not..thought I should consider location of these directorys...may not be related but worth consideration regardless..
you had suggested I not put files in lost and found.

have learned how to creat another partition and access finally so mentioned it, as the one with the swap is intended to be an archive..so thought perhaps I need another on hda for personal directories.keeping dsl a seperate entity

I do not yet know how much room I will need for dsl and added dsl extensions and or the apt and debian packages so the remaining space is unknown. but would use remaining for these. this is not helping

I want to know if I will corrupt the file system by addind directories and files to it myself or if they should be kept in .HOME/DSL...nano for example will only save to that directory..was beaver designed to do this to?

Posted by mikshaw on Mar. 04 2006,14:46

Personal directories *should* all be inside your /home/you directory, but technically you could put them anywhere if you have root power. Linux was designed to be a multi-user system, with each user being restricted to writing only to his own home (or to a shared directory, if necessary). This gives each user a place to do what he wants, without fear of harming the system. If you want to compare to Windows, this would be similar to "My Documents".

In a default DSL system, user dsl should be allowed to write only to /home/dsl (and /opt, due to there being several necessary configs in that directory). Any applications run by dsl abide by that. The permissions are set for each directory. /home is owned by root, with write access only by root. /home/dsl is owned by dsl, with write access by dsl. If you were to make a new /home/something directory to be written by dsl, you will need to create this directory as root and then change ownership of it to dsl. Truly, though, dsl has its own writeable directory already. /home/dsl is the intended place to put your personal files. Additionally, since most of /home/dsl is already available to be backed up, it's easier to keep your files persistent if they are within /home/dsl.

In any case, you should not put personal files in /. Most everything outside of /home is traditionally meant for regular users to keep their grubby paws off.

Posted by lovdsl on Mar. 05 2006,07:47

Thanks..yes I reinstalled and created directories in /home/dsl..ie:home/dsl/inbox..this is working nicely..I also have a partition on the second drive and can acess and transfer files for storage..but I can not create a doc and save to that partition...how do I boot to root, as it boots to x dsl...I entered passwords during install but am not prompted to enter them..I want to boot to x, but wonder if I can boot with more power.. perhaps is it not possible to save a doc to a partition in say beaver via its save button?

secondly..I have added several icons for new shortcuts to xdesktop and added pics to backgrounds in fluxbox..was curious if there are any limitations regarding the numbers one may add...and if a directory may be added to for example xdesktop for icons I have added leaveing the original as is..this allows me to delete the directory if I like without disturbing the original files...keeping in mine any paths that may lead to the said directory...

Posted by mikshaw on Mar. 05 2006,15:45

You are, of course, free to do what you like, but as I see it there's very little reason to boot into root unless your session will be solely for administrative tasks. There are sudo and su commands for lending normal users temporary root power.
That said, use the boot option "dsl 2" to boot as root.
If your second drive is formatted with a linux filesystem, you can create a directory on that partition owned by dsl.staff. This will allow you to save to that partition as dsl.

I don't know of any limitation in the number of icons that can be used. I assume it would at least be limited by available memory and screen resolution. I don't understand what you're asking in relation to the added directory. Anything is possible, but i'd need a better picture of what you want to do before i try to help.

Posted by lovdsl on Mar. 06 2006,02:13

thanks mikshaw..you are a wealth of valuable information to a newbie and it is much appreciated....regardless what may appear in text..I get a little excited..Yes I have recently discovered the sudo command and used it to create a shortcut in drawer to pppdial amoung others..
I am most interested in the dsl.staff directory for my partition on the second drive as I accumulate a lot of notes and would like to save them directly to that partition..how is this done? just make a directory called dsl.staff? ..will the directory show in the save dialog beaver opens when I click save? need some more on that.if you will.... with regard to the creation of directories inside dsl directories..likely a non issue just a little unfamiliar still and wondering about limitation....which brings to mind the file size limitations in beaver..I have a lot of gutenburg files that may be nice to add but wonder if there is a size to watch..I have this issue with several win freeware text readers and notepads.and sometimes the clipboard. thanks again

Posted by mikshaw on Mar. 06 2006,03:35

To create a directory on any linux partition, which is writeable by dsl:

1) Become root. In DSL, this can usually be done by opening up a terminal and typing "sudo su".
2) Mount the storage partition. For the sake of this post, we'll call the partition hda2:

Code Sample

mount /dev/hda2

3) Create a directory on that partition:

Code Sample

mkdir /mnt/hda2/whatever_you_want

4) change ownership of that directory to dsl:

Code Sample

chown dsl.staff /mnt/hda2/whatever_you_want

At this point you can save anything you want as user dsl to /mnt/hda2/whatever_you_want. If you happen to use a persistent directory on that partition, the partition will automatically be mounted. Otherwise you will need to mount the partition when you boot, either manually or maybe by adding a mount command to /opt/bootlocal.sh

NOTE: if this is a Windows partition (fat), it probably won't work, since Windows doesn't know how to deal with *nix file permissions.

Posted by lovdsl on Mar. 06 2006,07:21

ahh...chown dsl.staff..that's it..perfect..I can now save bever files to /mnt/hdc1/archive1...yes I have been mounting via the slit button for hdc1 for a few..to copy programs to a storage directory on that partition..how do I make a persistant directory so the partition will auto mount at boot....oh.. this is so excellent..thanks

Posted by mikshaw on Mar. 06 2006,15:41

In most Linux distros you could simply modify /etc/fstab to have it mount automatically. In these distros, the persistence of mountpoints would also give you the ability to make the mountpoint writeable by dsl. However, fstab and mountpoints are rebuilt each time you boot in DSL, so it would be complicated to do this.
One thing you could do is add a mount command to /opt/bootlocal.sh, if you are using backup/restore. If not, you could add a sudo mount command to your persistent $HOME/.bash_profile, if you've decided to use persistent home. If you are using it, and it's also on hdc1, then the partition should already be mounted.

You can also make a symlink in $HOME which points to /mnt/hdc1/archive1, for faster access to it:

Code Sample

ln -s /mnt/hdc1/archive1 /home/dsl/

Posted by lovdsl on Mar. 07 2006,06:21

ok..thanks..this will be handy info for later
What do you mean by faster access?
you mentioned that if my new dsl.staff directory was made persistant it would auto mount the partition..I would like the partition to auto mount without changeing any thing currently happening ..thus just adding it to a list..so persistant$home bash_profile requires a sudo /mnt/hdc1/directory entry? how do I access persistant$home bash_profile..or is it bash_profile @ $home taged persistant...yes I am a moron.

.running out of time to play and have to go back to work..spent three weeks 8-10 per day to get this far..guess I could just click mount and add the three dockables after boot but wanted at least to get the auto mount..still have to test useability..have had several freeze ups with opera and bever online and drag for copy past the view window in the browser goes scroll crazy....thus my desire to get clear on auto mount at boot. so I can document how to reinstall and make all the changes.. at a later time..I will forget if I do not...hopeing faster machine will cure freeze when I reinstall..solve the drag to copy issue..and I'm good to go.

Posted by mikshaw on Mar. 07 2006,15:48

Faster access means you could get to it quicker. Most applications will start in the current directory when you open a file selector, and the current directory is usually /home/dsl. If you have the symlink /home/dsl/archive1, which points to /mnt/hdc1/archive1, you will be able to get to it through a gui more quickly. You'd start in $HOME and just need to go down into 1 directory (archive1). Without the symlink you'd need to go to it through /mnt/hdc1/archive1. It's not a huge leap, but it saves a couple of clicks.

As far as persistent files go, I was saying that IF you are using a persistent home, and IF that persistent home is on the same partition as archive1 (hdc1), then you would not need to mount the partition. It would already be mounted in order to use the persistent home (as specified in the boot option "home=hdc1"). If you are not using a persistent home, or if the persistent home is on a partition other than hdc1, you will need to mount hdc1 either manually or from a startup script. If you use backup/restore, that startup script would probably be /opt/bootlocal.sh. If you use a persistent home, that startup script could be /home/dsl/.bash_profile, and it would work without needing backup/restore (everything in $HOME would persist after a reboot).
If you specify a persistent home when you boot, it is created automatically if it does not already exist.

Posted by lovdsl on Mar. 08 2006,06:38

Oh yes..I see..faster is faster..and only one click achives this..and after reboot it lists as file and if mount(one click) becomes accessable directory..very handy..and thanks for the extra on the persist..