this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2024
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The title says it all, I'd like to switch my operating system and preserve most of my files. Any other info I should know before the move would be nice as well.

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[–] UmbraTemporis@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 2 years ago (1 children)

If you're frequently distro-hopping, I recommend using a seperate /home partition. I did that before I settled down, I can't begin to describe how convenient it was (especially if you use Flatpak).

[–] sorrybookbroke@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

To do this one could install the new distro on a new partition, boot to it, delete everything from the old installation except the hone directory, move your user to the base directory (/home/sorrybookbroke -> /sorrybookbroke) before editing your /etc/fstab and mounting the old partition to /home

This way, no external drive is needed like @Luci@lemmy.ca suggested. Of course, their suggestion is the easiest, but this is the one I personally chose.

[–] zwekihoyy@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 years ago

this is so much more wlrk

[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 28 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Copy them to an external drive or another computer, copy them back after.

Chances are you're gonna wanna wipe the partition table on your switch over so I'd just copy them out then back in. No point over complicating things.

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 4 points 2 years ago

Yea, I was gonna say, have ya not heard of backups ? but this is better.

[–] flakusha@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago

Just to add: some folders' files might need modifications in the new system, e.g. .config/

[–] db2@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

I'd recommend starting fresh. Make a new one but don't delete the old one. You can then copy over what you want without bringing over anything like dotfiles with bad settings.

[–] scratchandgame@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

WHY THERE ARE NOT.

Please have a partition for /home. In fact, you need partition for /usr, /var,.. too

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Why? Serious question. I kind of understand /home, but why the others? I used to do it a bit, but now I don't bother. I never knew how big to make each partition, and have had problems where something like /boot fills up and freezes the system.

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Just remove every directory except for /home/. Then install the new OS without repartitioning.

[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 years ago

I'd be careful, not every distro plays nice when you do this. In my experience at least.

[–] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

If /home is on a different partition just don't format it and set it to mount on the same place and you should be good to go. If it's not make a backup, then create a partition just for it, install your new system, restore the backup, and next time you won't need a backup.