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> And, as far as I know, all the normal distributions set things up with swap partitions, not files I guess Ubuntu is not a "normal" distribution then? Because

> And, as far as I know, all the normal distributions set things up with swap partitions, not files I guess Ubuntu is not a "normal" distribution then? Because it uses a swap file by default.

dathinab 6y ago
While it's the default setup of the auto installer it common (and IMHO best) practice to change it to install with a swap partition. It's just that it's much easier for anyone who just gets started with Linux to have a swap file. For example for hibernation you swap partition needs to have the right size. But people do upgrade their desktop RAM and as such would need to resize the partition, which isn't easy (because likely it means shrinking another partition)... So for a distribution like ubuntu the "non-normal" case became the default. Still this mail was targeting people which install pre-release versions of Linux kernerls which is a group of people relatively unlikely to use a swap file.
- pbhjpbhj 6y ago
  I used to use a swap partition, but then if you get the partition size wrong you're lumbered with it. Why wouldn't you use a file. At one point in the past I used the default (or recommended) /boot size and got stuck a couple of years later juggling at updates to fit the boot files into the partition. I just use a monolithic partition per OS per disk now and swap files within that. Is that not good practice (for home systems)?
  - samus 6y ago
    `/home` should be separate from the system so you can reinstall it without trouble. Same for `/var` (or subdirectories) if you value the data of particular services. Other than that, the bootloader and EFI must be able to access certain directories like `/boot` and `/boot/efi`. As long as it works for your use cases, everything is alright. Edit: A swap file has a little bit of overhead because of the underlying file system. But at the point you notice this, your system is pretty much frozen anyways.
    - xodice 6y ago
      The Linux kernel doesn't rely on the filesystem for swap files insuring no more overheard than swap partitions. It bypasses the filesystem and is told what blocks it can use, that's why some filesystems do not support swapfiles as there is additional plumbing to be done.
      - samus 6y ago
        True, I realized when I read TA. After all, the kernel not considering the swap file's offset was precisely the defect in 5.12-rc1.
_-___________-_ 6y ago
I'd venture that most people who are compiling their own -rc1 kernel are not running Ubuntu, and most of those that are probably chose the swap partition option when installing it.
walrus01 6y ago
ubuntu does a lot of things where the design decision is better understood in the context of being as easy to use as possible, for the widest possible spectrum of people with zero prior linux experience, or even computer knowledge in general.
freidenker 6y ago
Not always I guess. The 20.04 and 20.10 installer with LUKS enabled created a swap partition for me.

> And, as far as I know, all the normal distributions set things up with swap partitions, not files I guess Ubuntu is not a "normal" distribution then? Because it uses a swap file by default.

dathinab 6y ago

While it's the default setup of the auto installer it common (and IMHO best) practice to change it to install with a swap partition. It's just that it's much easier for anyone who just gets started with Linux to have a swap file. For example for hibernation you swap partition needs to have the right size. But people do upgrade their desktop RAM and as such would need to resize the partition, which isn't easy (because likely it means shrinking another partition)... So for a distribution like ubuntu the "non-normal" case became the default. Still this mail was targeting people which install pre-release versions of Linux kernerls which is a group of people relatively unlikely to use a swap file.

pbhjpbhj 6y ago
I used to use a swap partition, but then if you get the partition size wrong you're lumbered with it. Why wouldn't you use a file. At one point in the past I used the default (or recommended) /boot size and got stuck a couple of years later juggling at updates to fit the boot files into the partition. I just use a monolithic partition per OS per disk now and swap files within that. Is that not good practice (for home systems)?
- samus 6y ago
  `/home` should be separate from the system so you can reinstall it without trouble. Same for `/var` (or subdirectories) if you value the data of particular services. Other than that, the bootloader and EFI must be able to access certain directories like `/boot` and `/boot/efi`. As long as it works for your use cases, everything is alright. Edit: A swap file has a little bit of overhead because of the underlying file system. But at the point you notice this, your system is pretty much frozen anyways.
  - xodice 6y ago
    The Linux kernel doesn't rely on the filesystem for swap files insuring no more overheard than swap partitions. It bypasses the filesystem and is told what blocks it can use, that's why some filesystems do not support swapfiles as there is additional plumbing to be done.
    - samus 6y ago
      True, I realized when I read TA. After all, the kernel not considering the swap file's offset was precisely the defect in 5.12-rc1.

_-___________-_ 6y ago

I'd venture that most people who are compiling their own -rc1 kernel are not running Ubuntu, and most of those that are probably chose the swap partition option when installing it.

walrus01 6y ago

ubuntu does a lot of things where the design decision is better understood in the context of being as easy to use as possible, for the widest possible spectrum of people with zero prior linux experience, or even computer knowledge in general.

freidenker 6y ago

Not always I guess. The 20.04 and 20.10 installer with LUKS enabled created a swap partition for me.