Can 32 and 64 bit gutsy share swap and home?

[helwitch]

I want to install the 64 bit gutsy, cos I have a 64 bit processor, but in the past, the 64 bit version has been....less usable than the 32 bit, so I'd like to have the 32 bit installed as well. If they each have their own root partition, can they share the same swap and home partitions?

[integr8e]

Re: Can 32 and 64 bit gutsy share swap and home?

As far as I know, as long as you have a separate /home partition, you shouldn't have any trouble sharing it. I would, however, suggest backing up your /home files before attempting any modification.

[Colonel Amon Goeth]

Re: Can 32 and 64 bit gutsy share swap and home?

I think you should be able to share the same.
swap
/home
/boot
/var

[dibl]

Re: Can 32 and 64 bit gutsy share swap and home?

RE: 64-bit -- the list of things you can't do with 64-bit is getting very short. I recommend you check out how badly you really need the 32-bit, before going to the trouble of installing it. Just install the 64-bit and work with it for awhile, and see if you really need the 32-bit.

Re: Sharing folders: swap is fine, since only one OS is running at a time. I would definitely recommend against sharing /home, because of the many "settings" that are stored there -- unless you have identical desktops and identical package suites, I think you'll end up with some serious confusion. You could make a separate "/data" partition, and share that, and let "/home" be smaller for each OS. "/boot" is so small it's hardly worth the bother. I don't know about "/var".

[Fintan]

Re: Can 32 and 64 bit gutsy share swap and home?

I concur with dible. (as usual )

Especially concerning a separate /Data partition. This is very useful and can be a real "life saver".

Sharing /home only makes sense if you have different users for different linuxes (like me) or different people using the same linux.