Need help changing from dual-boot to triple-boot.

[Shabakthanai]

Thanks so much SecretCode. That was a great reply. I have wondered about a couple of things you straightened me out on for years. It has been important enough to know that I most likely won't have any trouble retaining the information long term. If you were here right now, you'd think I am crazy; I get so happy, I laugh with joy, when I finally add some permanent knowledge. Still chuckling, hah! Thanks, friend. Guess I will get another TB of 6GB/s HDD. Is there any reason to not get it on a laptop size drive? I already have a SATA III container for that. Later, friend.

Hello Shabakthanai

You don't need to worry about hibernation. It came up because you mentioned that you have 20GB of swap space, which you're unlikely to need except for hibernation - but you can safely leave it as is!

Your planned setup is fine except for some aspects.

• You will need more than one /home directory. You should have one for each different version of Linux operating system, otherwise KDE settings from the different versions will overwrite each other and cause problems. You could do this by using your HDD for /home just for Kubuntu 14.04, and having the /home directory for your Kubuntu 15.04 in the same partition as its root. But will you remember not to mount the 14.04 /home on the 15.04 system?
• Having your backup HDD being the same as the one you are going to install a beta operating system on is a very bad idea - unless you are very careful and know exactly what you are doing, you may overwrite backups. This is why I suggested purchasing an extra HDD, one that can be disconnected from the computer whenever you are doing installations - or you could remove the existing drive you use for backups, but then I think you wouldn't have enough separate drives for the planned setup.

[Qqmike]

Re Post #30:

Relating to your My_Data label, could the labe be named "My_Data" rather than /My_Data without the forward slash? That might be how I screwed up in the past.

Yes, label it without the slash. Just this: My_Data (or whatever you wish to call it, with no slashes -- the slashes should not mess anything up as they are simply part of the alphanumeric string called a "label," but I feel a slash could be distracting and even confusing at times).

You prefer horses over cars, while I prefer wormholes, ...

I also read a lot of cosmology books by the standard set of, what, four or five, standard writers including Hawking, Greene, Tegmark, and Sagan's Cosmos (still good, though dated).

Nonetheless, if I could become as smart as you guys, without having to struggle another 70 years to get there, I would be happy to live with unending pain. The things that the collective you take pretty much for granted are things that give me a state of bliss when I finally make the knowledge mine. In that respect, I am more fortunate than you. I get super excited and happy with stuff you are able to ignore, due to its simplicity to you.

Ha! Let's clear this up right now!

As I said, I've been a student at and have taught in four technical university settings and have some advanced degrees. I'm here to tell ya, friend, that the math, science, engineering, and computer sci people I have known work like H*ll to learn the stuff. And they also derive great pleasure--thrills--from the conquest when they finally "get it." Many are in it for that reason: the challenge, the ego trips, the intellectual ride. Most work very hard to master their material. Yeah, there's a 5%-10% of geniuses (in graduate programs) that just simply and quickly pick up on everything and astound their professors and their colleagues; but they are decidedly a minority. Most technical students I have known are just normal "math-science"-type students who chose a difficult field to master, and they work hard to do so ... But they do have an advantage: they * love * what they are doing; and that provides them with the energy and motivation to get it and to excel.

[SecretCode]

Thanks so much SecretCode. That was a great reply. I have wondered about a couple of things you straightened me out on for years. It has been important enough to know that I most likely won't have any trouble retaining the information long term. If you were here right now, you'd think I am crazy; I get so happy, I laugh with joy, when I finally add some permanent knowledge. Still chuckling, hah! Thanks, friend. Guess I will get another TB of 6GB/s HDD. Is there any reason to not get it on a laptop size drive? I already have a SATA III container for that. Later, friend.

I am glad you are chuckling

A laptop size drive is fine. But remember it should be easily removeable - so that it's not online when you are doing installations. So personally I would choose an external USB-attached drive.

[Shabakthanai]

I have one of those exterior 2 1/2" drive containers that contains the SATA hardware inside. I used it as an exterior drive for my laptop. It had USB + one other connection capability. I have mislaid it for the moment and can't remember the other port type, but USB is the one I used anyway. It was nice, easy, and easy to connect and use. I still have the container somewhere, so if I do what you suggest, I will use the more compact version. It is just a little bigger than my cell phone. Later friend

[SecretCode]

Sounds perfect!